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MGPI or NSRGY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Food - Miscellaneous sector have probably already heard of MGP (MGPI - Free Report) and Nestle SA (NSRGY - 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.

MGP has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nestle SA has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that MGPI's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

MGPI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.22, while NSRGY has a forward P/E of 20.74. We also note that MGPI has a PEG ratio of 1.38. 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. NSRGY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.52.

Another notable valuation metric for MGPI is its P/B ratio of 2.30. 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, NSRGY has a P/B of 7.43.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MGPI's Value grade of B and NSRGY's Value grade of C.

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


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Nestle SA (NSRGY) - free report >>

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