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MDT vs. LMAT: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Products stocks have likely encountered both Medtronic (MDT - Free Report) and LeMaitre Vascular (LMAT - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Medtronic and LeMaitre Vascular are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (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 MDT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

MDT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.61, while LMAT has a forward P/E of 41.44. We also note that MDT has a PEG ratio of 3. 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. LMAT currently has a PEG ratio of 3.07.

Another notable valuation metric for MDT is its P/B ratio of 2.20. 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, LMAT has a P/B of 4.82.

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

MDT stands above LMAT thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that MDT is the superior value option right now.


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Medtronic PLC (MDT) - free report >>

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