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ATGE or LOPE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Schools stocks are likely familiar with Adtalem Global Education (ATGE - Free Report) and Grand Canyon Education (LOPE - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Adtalem Global Education and Grand Canyon Education are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that ATGE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

ATGE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.97, while LOPE has a forward P/E of 17.50. We also note that ATGE has a PEG ratio of 0.73. 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. LOPE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.17.

Another notable valuation metric for ATGE is its P/B ratio of 1.46. 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, LOPE has a P/B of 5.60.

Based on these metrics and many more, ATGE holds a Value grade of B, while LOPE has a Value grade of C.

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


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Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) - free report >>

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