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VEOEY vs. AWK: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Water Supply sector might want to consider either Veolia Environnement SA (VEOEY - Free Report) or American Water Works (AWK - 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.

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 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.

Veolia Environnement SA has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while American Water Works has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that VEOEY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AWK has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

VEOEY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.11, while AWK has a forward P/E of 24.61. We also note that VEOEY has a PEG ratio of 1.57. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AWK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.33.

Another notable valuation metric for VEOEY is its P/B ratio of 1.52. 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, AWK has a P/B of 2.62.

Based on these metrics and many more, VEOEY holds a Value grade of A, while AWK has a Value grade of D.

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

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