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PRDO or LINC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Schools sector have probably already heard of Perdoceo Education (PRDO - Free Report) and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (LINC - 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.

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 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.

Perdoceo Education and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation 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 only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

PRDO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.89, while LINC has a forward P/E of 28.87. We also note that PRDO has a PEG ratio of 0.86. 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. LINC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.92.

Another notable valuation metric for PRDO is its P/B ratio of 2.14. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, LINC has a P/B of 3.38.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PRDO's Value grade of A and LINC's Value grade of C.

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


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