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UTL vs. MGEE: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Utility - Electric Power stocks are likely familiar with Unitil (UTL - Free Report) and MGE (MGEE - 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 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.

Unitil has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while MGE has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This means that UTL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

UTL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.64, while MGEE has a forward P/E of 20.46. We also note that UTL has a PEG ratio of 2.49. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. MGEE currently has a PEG ratio of 3.82.

Another notable valuation metric for UTL is its P/B ratio of 1.70. 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, MGEE has a P/B of 2.39.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to UTL's Value grade of B and MGEE's Value grade of F.

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


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