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VEOEY or AWK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Utility - Water Supply stocks are likely familiar with Veolia Environnement SA (VEOEY - Free Report) and 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. 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.

Right now, Veolia Environnement SA is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while American Water Works has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This means that VEOEY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

VEOEY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.80, while AWK has a forward P/E of 25.03. We also note that VEOEY has a PEG ratio of 1.61. 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. AWK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.38.

Another notable valuation metric for VEOEY is its P/B ratio of 1.54. 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, AWK has a P/B of 2.65.

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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American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) - free report >>

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