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COO vs. SAUHY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Medical - Dental Supplies stocks are likely familiar with The Cooper Companies (COO - Free Report) and Straumann Holding AG (SAUHY - 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.

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.

The Cooper Companies and Straumann Holding AG are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that COO's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

COO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.20, while SAUHY has a forward P/E of 26.24. We also note that COO has a PEG ratio of 1.81. 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. SAUHY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.13.

Another notable valuation metric for COO is its P/B ratio of 1.64. 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, SAUHY has a P/B of 6.35.

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

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

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