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VEOEY or AWK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Water Supply sector might want to consider either Veolia Environnement SA (VEOEY - Free Report) or American Water Works (AWK - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Veolia Environnement SA has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while American Water Works has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that VEOEY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AWK has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

VEOEY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.49, while AWK has a forward P/E of 23.82. We also note that VEOEY has a PEG ratio of 0.90. 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. AWK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.07.

Another notable valuation metric for VEOEY is its P/B ratio of 1.48. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, AWK has a P/B of 2.42.

These metrics, and several others, help VEOEY earn a Value grade of A, while AWK has been given a Value grade of D.

VEOEY has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AWK, so it seems like value investors will conclude that VEOEY is the superior option right now.


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