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DOLE vs. CTVA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Agriculture - Operations sector have probably already heard of Dole (DOLE - Free Report) and Corteva, Inc. (CTVA - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Dole and Corteva, Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong 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 DOLE is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

DOLE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.35, while CTVA has a forward P/E of 16.14. We also note that DOLE has a PEG ratio of 0.88. 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. CTVA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.25.

Another notable valuation metric for DOLE is its P/B ratio of 0.86. 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, CTVA has a P/B of 1.34.

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

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


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