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ALC vs. EW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Instruments sector have probably already heard of Alcon (ALC - Free Report) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Alcon has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Edwards Lifesciences has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ALC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EW has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

ALC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 26.38, while EW has a forward P/E of 30.73. We also note that ALC has a PEG ratio of 2.06. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. EW currently has a PEG ratio of 3.58.

Another notable valuation metric for ALC is its P/B ratio of 1.92. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, EW has a P/B of 7.14.

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

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


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