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PBH vs. ABT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Products sector might want to consider either Prestige Consumer Healthcare (PBH - Free Report) or Abbott (ABT - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Prestige Consumer Healthcare and Abbott are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that PBH likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ABT has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

PBH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.56, while ABT has a forward P/E of 23.22. We also note that PBH has a PEG ratio of 1.95. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.58.

Another notable valuation metric for PBH is its P/B ratio of 2.22. 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, ABT has a P/B of 4.80.

These metrics, and several others, help PBH earn a Value grade of B, while ABT has been given a Value grade of C.

PBH sticks out from ABT in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that PBH is the better option right now.


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