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YUMC or CMG: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Retail - Restaurants stocks are likely familiar with Yum China Holdings (YUMC - Free Report) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, both Yum China Holdings and Chipotle Mexican Grill are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

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.

YUMC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.67, while CMG has a forward P/E of 54.71. We also note that YUMC has a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. CMG currently has a PEG ratio of 2.48.

Another notable valuation metric for YUMC is its P/B ratio of 2.26. 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, CMG has a P/B of 26.23.

These metrics, and several others, help YUMC earn a Value grade of B, while CMG has been given a Value grade of F.

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


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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) - free report >>

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