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PETQ vs. ABT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Medical - Products stocks are likely familiar with PetIQ (PETQ - Free Report) and Abbott (ABT - 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

PetIQ and Abbott are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that PETQ is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.

PETQ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.37, while ABT has a forward P/E of 23.50. We also note that PETQ has a PEG ratio of 1.92. 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. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.61.

Another notable valuation metric for PETQ is its P/B ratio of 2.17. 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 4.81.

Based on these metrics and many more, PETQ holds a Value grade of A, while ABT has a Value grade of C.

PETQ 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 PETQ is likely the superior value option right now.


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