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GEF or ATR: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Containers - Paper and Packaging sector have probably already heard of Greif (GEF - Free Report) and AptarGroup (ATR - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Both Greif and AptarGroup have a Zacks Rank of # 1 (Strong Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

GEF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.55, while ATR has a forward P/E of 27.25. We also note that GEF has a PEG ratio of 1.15. 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. ATR currently has a PEG ratio of 3.89.

Another notable valuation metric for GEF is its P/B ratio of 1.66. 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, ATR has a P/B of 3.50.

These metrics, and several others, help GEF earn a Value grade of A, while ATR has been given a Value grade of C.

Both GEF and ATR are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that GEF is the superior value option right now.


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AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR) - free report >>

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