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OGE or IDA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Electric Power sector might want to consider either OGE Energy (OGE - Free Report) or IdaCorp (IDA - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Both OGE Energy and IdaCorp have a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

OGE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.72, while IDA has a forward P/E of 21.52. We also note that OGE has a PEG ratio of 2.68. 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. IDA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.69.

Another notable valuation metric for OGE is its P/B ratio of 1.79. 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, IDA has a P/B of 1.95.

Based on these metrics and many more, OGE holds a Value grade of B, while IDA has a Value grade of C.

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


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