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NI vs. MGEE: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Electric Power sector might want to consider either NiSource (NI - Free Report) or MGE (MGEE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

NiSource has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while MGE has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that NI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

NI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.28, while MGEE has a forward P/E of 22.93. We also note that NI has a PEG ratio of 2.50. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MGEE currently has a PEG ratio of 4.29.

Another notable valuation metric for NI is its P/B ratio of 1.73. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, MGEE has a P/B of 2.54.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to NI's Value grade of B and MGEE's Value grade of D.

NI stands above MGEE thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that NI is the superior value option right now.


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