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ARCO or CMG: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Retail - Restaurants sector might want to consider either Arcos Dorados (ARCO - Free Report) or Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG - 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 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.

Right now, Arcos Dorados is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Chipotle Mexican Grill has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ARCO 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.

ARCO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.52, while CMG has a forward P/E of 52.67. We also note that ARCO has a PEG ratio of 1.22. 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. CMG currently has a PEG ratio of 2.03.

Another notable valuation metric for ARCO is its P/B ratio of 6.06. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CMG has a P/B of 22.06.

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

ARCO 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 ARCO is likely the superior value option right now.


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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) - free report >>

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (ARCO) - free report >>

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