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PCAR or TSLA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Automotive - Domestic sector have probably already heard of Paccar (PCAR - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. 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, Paccar has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Tesla has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that PCAR has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

PCAR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.20, while TSLA has a forward P/E of 57.65. We also note that PCAR has a PEG ratio of 1.93. 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. TSLA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.18.

Another notable valuation metric for PCAR is its P/B ratio of 4.08. 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, TSLA has a P/B of 8.84.

These metrics, and several others, help PCAR earn a Value grade of A, while TSLA has been given a Value grade of F.

PCAR is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that PCAR is likely the superior value option right now.


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