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BLDR or FAST: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Building Products - Retail sector might want to consider either Builders FirstSource (BLDR - Free Report) or Fastenal (FAST - 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 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.

Builders FirstSource and Fastenal are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BLDR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than FAST has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

BLDR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.16, while FAST has a forward P/E of 32.30. We also note that BLDR has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. FAST currently has a PEG ratio of 3.59.

Another notable valuation metric for BLDR is its P/B ratio of 4.75. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, FAST has a P/B of 11.48.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BLDR's Value grade of A and FAST's Value grade of D.

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


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