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STM or TXN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Semiconductor - General sector have probably already heard of STMicroelectronics (STM - Free Report) and Texas Instruments (TXN - 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, STMicroelectronics has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Texas Instruments has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that STM has an improving earnings outlook. 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

STM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.45, while TXN has a forward P/E of 20.65. We also note that STM has a PEG ratio of 1.89. 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. TXN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.21.

Another notable valuation metric for STM is its P/B ratio of 2.54. 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, TXN has a P/B of 8.60.

Based on these metrics and many more, STM holds a Value grade of B, while TXN has a Value grade of D.

STM 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 STM is likely the superior value option right now.


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