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AVNT vs. APD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Chemical - Diversified sector have probably already heard of Avient (AVNT - Free Report) and Air Products and Chemicals (APD - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Avient has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Air Products and Chemicals has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that AVNT has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

AVNT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.25, while APD has a forward P/E of 19.80. We also note that AVNT has a PEG ratio of 0.91. 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. APD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.64.

Another notable valuation metric for AVNT is its P/B ratio of 1.71. 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, APD has a P/B of 3.32.

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

AVNT is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that AVNT is likely the superior value option right now.


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Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD) - free report >>

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