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COHR or IBTA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Technology Services stocks have likely encountered both Coherent (COHR - Free Report) and Ibotta (IBTA - 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.

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.

Currently, Coherent has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Ibotta 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 COHR has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

COHR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.53, while IBTA has a forward P/E of 37.41. We also note that COHR has a PEG ratio of 0.44. 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. IBTA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.99.

Another notable valuation metric for COHR is its P/B ratio of 2.45. 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, IBTA has a P/B of 2.78.

These metrics, and several others, help COHR earn a Value grade of B, while IBTA has been given a Value grade of C.

COHR is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that COHR is likely the superior value option right now.


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