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ASO vs. POOL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Leisure and Recreation Products stocks are likely familiar with Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (ASO - Free Report) and Pool Corp. (POOL - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Pool Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ASO likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than POOL has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

ASO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.83, while POOL has a forward P/E of 26.41. We also note that ASO has a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. POOL currently has a PEG ratio of 4.51.

Another notable valuation metric for ASO is its P/B ratio of 2.11. 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, POOL has a P/B of 9.56.

Based on these metrics and many more, ASO holds a Value grade of A, while POOL has a Value grade of D.

ASO stands above POOL thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that ASO is the superior value option right now.


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