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ASAZY or SSTI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Security and Safety Services sector might want to consider either Assa Abloy AB (ASAZY - Free Report) or SoundThinking (SSTI - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Assa Abloy AB is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while SoundThinking has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ASAZY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

ASAZY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.04, while SSTI has a forward P/E of 168.78. We also note that ASAZY has a PEG ratio of 2.14. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. SSTI currently has a PEG ratio of 5.63.

Another notable valuation metric for ASAZY is its P/B ratio of 3.11. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, SSTI has a P/B of 5.26.

These metrics, and several others, help ASAZY earn a Value grade of B, while SSTI has been given a Value grade of F.

ASAZY has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than SSTI, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ASAZY is the superior option right now.


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