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PRMW or AWR: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Utility - Water Supply stocks are likely familiar with Primo (PRMW - Free Report) and American States Water (AWR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, both Primo and American States Water are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

PRMW currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.11, while AWR has a forward P/E of 23.34. We also note that PRMW has a PEG ratio of 1.56. 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. AWR currently has a PEG ratio of 3.70.

Another notable valuation metric for PRMW is its P/B ratio of 1.98. 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, AWR has a P/B of 3.35.

These metrics, and several others, help PRMW earn a Value grade of B, while AWR has been given a Value grade of D.

Both PRMW and AWR are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that PRMW is the superior value option right now.


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