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FLEX or ROK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Electronics - Miscellaneous Products stocks have likely encountered both Flex (FLEX - Free Report) and Rockwell Automation (ROK - 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.

Flex has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Rockwell Automation has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that FLEX's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

FLEX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.62, while ROK has a forward P/E of 29.55. We also note that FLEX has a PEG ratio of 1.40. 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. ROK currently has a PEG ratio of 2.56.

Another notable valuation metric for FLEX is its P/B ratio of 4.54. 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, ROK has a P/B of 10.59.

These metrics, and several others, help FLEX earn a Value grade of B, while ROK has been given a Value grade of D.

FLEX has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ROK, so it seems like value investors will conclude that FLEX is the superior option right now.

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