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LGND vs. ILMN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy 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 presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Ligand Pharmaceuticals is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Illumina has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that LGND's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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 11.56, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 165.51. We also note that LGND has a PEG ratio of 0.58. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 7.46.

Another notable valuation metric for LGND is its P/B ratio of 1.53. 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, ILMN has a P/B of 3.32.

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

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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