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PBYI or VRTX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks have likely encountered both Puma Biotech (PBYI - Free Report) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - 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.

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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Puma Biotech is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that PBYI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

PBYI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.31, while VRTX has a forward P/E of 26.55. We also note that PBYI has a PEG ratio of 1.19. 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. VRTX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.58.

Another notable valuation metric for PBYI is its P/B ratio of 6.15. 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, VRTX has a P/B of 6.87.

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

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


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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) - free report >>

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