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NWE or OGE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Utility - Electric Power stocks have likely encountered both NorthWestern (NWE - Free Report) and OGE Energy (OGE - 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Both NorthWestern and OGE Energy have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. 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 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.

NWE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.10, while OGE has a forward P/E of 17.60. We also note that NWE has a PEG ratio of 2.93. 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. OGE currently has a PEG ratio of 4.82.

Another notable valuation metric for NWE is its P/B ratio of 1.16. 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, OGE has a P/B of 1.63.

Based on these metrics and many more, NWE holds a Value grade of B, while OGE has a Value grade of C.

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


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