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ASAZY vs. SSTI: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Security and Safety Services stocks have likely encountered both Assa Abloy AB (ASAZY - Free Report) and SoundThinking (SSTI - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. 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. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

ASAZY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.32, while SSTI has a forward P/E of 147.39. We also note that ASAZY has a PEG ratio of 1.51. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. SSTI currently has a PEG ratio of 4.91.

Another notable valuation metric for ASAZY is its P/B ratio of 3.01. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, SSTI has a P/B of 4.59.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to ASAZY's Value grade of B and SSTI's Value grade of F.

ASAZY sticks out from SSTI in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that ASAZY is the better option right now.


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Assa Abloy AB (ASAZY) - free report >>

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