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PETQ vs. ABT: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Products stocks have likely encountered both PetIQ (PETQ - Free Report) and Abbott (ABT - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

PetIQ and Abbott are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that PETQ'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 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.

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.

PETQ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.98, while ABT has a forward P/E of 22.42. We also note that PETQ has a PEG ratio of 2. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.49.

Another notable valuation metric for PETQ is its P/B ratio of 2.25. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ABT has a P/B of 4.58.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PETQ's Value grade of A and ABT's Value grade of C.

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


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