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POWL or ETN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Manufacturing - Electronics stocks are likely familiar with Powell Industries (POWL - Free Report) and Eaton (ETN - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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, both Powell Industries and Eaton are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

POWL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.02, while ETN has a forward P/E of 30.43. We also note that POWL has a PEG ratio of 1.36. 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. ETN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.59.

Another notable valuation metric for POWL is its P/B ratio of 4.68. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ETN has a P/B of 6.55.

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

Both POWL and ETN are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that POWL is the superior value option right now.


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Eaton Corporation, PLC (ETN) - free report >>

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