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MKSI or TER: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Electronics - Miscellaneous Products sector might want to consider either MKS (MKSI - Free Report) or Teradyne (TER - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, MKS is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Teradyne has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that MKSI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

MKSI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.38, while TER has a forward P/E of 44.76. We also note that MKSI has a PEG ratio of 1.49. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. TER currently has a PEG ratio of 2.95.

Another notable valuation metric for MKSI is its P/B ratio of 3.39. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TER has a P/B of 7.86.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MKSI's Value grade of B and TER's Value grade of D.

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


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