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FLS or NDSN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks have likely encountered both Flowserve (FLS - Free Report) and Nordson (NDSN - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Flowserve is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nordson has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that FLS has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

FLS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.34, while NDSN has a forward P/E of 26.13. We also note that FLS has a PEG ratio of 1. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. NDSN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.01.

Another notable valuation metric for FLS is its P/B ratio of 2.83. 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, NDSN has a P/B of 5.80.

Based on these metrics and many more, FLS holds a Value grade of B, while NDSN has a Value grade of D.

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


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