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

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Investors interested in stocks from the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector have probably already heard of Flowserve (FLS - Free Report) and Nordson (NDSN - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Flowserve and Nordson are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that FLS likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NDSN has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 15.83, while NDSN has a forward P/E of 24.79. We also note that FLS has a PEG ratio of 0.78. 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. NDSN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.91.

Another notable valuation metric for FLS is its P/B ratio of 2.75. 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, NDSN has a P/B of 5.50.

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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