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GEHC or A: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Products sector might want to consider either GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC - Free Report) or Agilent Technologies (A - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

GE HealthCare Technologies and Agilent Technologies are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that GEHC has an improving earnings 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 highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

GEHC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.34, while A has a forward P/E of 22.91. We also note that GEHC has a PEG ratio of 2.83. 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. A currently has a PEG ratio of 3.97.

Another notable valuation metric for GEHC is its P/B ratio of 3.47. 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, A has a P/B of 5.68.

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

GEHC 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 GEHC is likely the superior value option right now.


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