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NVS or LLY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are likely familiar with Novartis (NVS - Free Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Novartis and Eli Lilly are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. 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.

NVS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.13, while LLY has a forward P/E of 55.40. We also note that NVS has a PEG ratio of 1.69. 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. LLY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.77.

Another notable valuation metric for NVS is its P/B ratio of 5.55. 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, LLY has a P/B of 63.69.

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

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


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