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EXC 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 Exelon (EXC - Free Report) and MGE (MGEE - 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.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Exelon and MGE are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that EXC is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 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.

EXC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.58, while MGEE has a forward P/E of 23.56. We also note that EXC has a PEG ratio of 2.63. 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 4.40.

Another notable valuation metric for EXC is its P/B ratio of 1.65. 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 2.61.

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

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


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