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PNM or MGEE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Utility - Electric Power stocks are likely familiar with PNM Resources (PNM - Free Report) and 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, PNM Resources has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while MGE has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that PNM has 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

PNM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.70, while MGEE has a forward P/E of 23.36. We also note that PNM has a PEG ratio of 3.72. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. MGEE currently has a PEG ratio of 4.37.

Another notable valuation metric for PNM is its P/B ratio of 1.71. 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, MGEE has a P/B of 2.59.

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

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


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PNM Resources, Inc. (PNM) - free report >>

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