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STNG or KEX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Transportation - Shipping sector have probably already heard of Scorpio Tankers (STNG - Free Report) and Kirby (KEX - 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.

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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Scorpio Tankers has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Kirby has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that STNG is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

STNG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.35, while KEX has a forward P/E of 20.86. We also note that STNG has a PEG ratio of 0.16. 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. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.74.

Another notable valuation metric for STNG is its P/B ratio of 1.24. 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, KEX has a P/B of 1.45.

These metrics, and several others, help STNG earn a Value grade of A, while KEX has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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