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JSAIY vs. WMT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Retail - Supermarkets stocks have likely encountered both J. Sainsbury PLC (JSAIY - Free Report) and Walmart (WMT - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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.

Right now, J. Sainsbury PLC is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Walmart has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that JSAIY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

JSAIY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.31, while WMT has a forward P/E of 33.65. We also note that JSAIY has a PEG ratio of 2.35. 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. WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.11.

Another notable valuation metric for JSAIY is its P/B ratio of 1.01. 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, WMT has a P/B of 7.28.

These metrics, and several others, help JSAIY earn a Value grade of A, while WMT has been given a Value grade of C.

JSAIY has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than WMT, so it seems like value investors will conclude that JSAIY is the superior option right now.


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