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MPTI or HWM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Engineering - R and D Services sector might want to consider either M-tron Industries, Inc. (MPTI - Free Report) or Howmet (HWM - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

M-tron Industries, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Howmet has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that MPTI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than HWM has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

MPTI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.53, while HWM has a forward P/E of 35.40. We also note that MPTI has a PEG ratio of 0.59. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. HWM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.01.

Another notable valuation metric for MPTI is its P/B ratio of 3.81. 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, HWM has a P/B of 7.99.

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

MPTI stands above HWM thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that MPTI is the superior value option right now.


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