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JBTM or SYM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Technology Services sector have probably already heard of JBT Marel (JBTM - Free Report) and Symbotic Inc. (SYM - 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.

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.

JBT Marel has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Symbotic Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that JBTM is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

JBTM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 23.04, while SYM has a forward P/E of 194.44. We also note that JBTM has a PEG ratio of 1.67. 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. SYM currently has a PEG ratio of 6.48.

Another notable valuation metric for JBTM is its P/B ratio of 1.68. 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, SYM has a P/B of 94.45.

These metrics, and several others, help JBTM earn a Value grade of B, while SYM has been given a Value grade of F.

JBTM sticks out from SYM in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that JBTM is the better option right now.


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