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LGND or ILMN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics sector might want to consider either Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND - Free Report) or Illumina (ILMN - 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.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, Ligand Pharmaceuticals is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Illumina has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that LGND is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

LGND currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.31, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 131.04. We also note that LGND has a PEG ratio of 0.67. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 5.90.

Another notable valuation metric for LGND is its P/B ratio of 1.86. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ILMN has a P/B of 4.34.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to LGND's Value grade of B and ILMN's Value grade of C.

LGND is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that LGND is likely the superior value option right now.


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