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STRL or HWM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Engineering - R and D Services stocks are likely familiar with Sterling Infrastructure (STRL - Free Report) and Howmet (HWM - 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 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.

Sterling Infrastructure has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Howmet has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that STRL is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

STRL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 22.15, while HWM has a forward P/E of 31.19. We also note that STRL has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. HWM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.61.

Another notable valuation metric for STRL is its P/B ratio of 5.47. 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, HWM has a P/B of 7.08.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to STRL's Value grade of B and HWM's Value grade of D.

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


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