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FUL vs. HWKN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Chemical - Specialty sector have probably already heard of H. B. Fuller (FUL - Free Report) and Hawkins (HWKN - 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.

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.

Currently, both H. B. Fuller and Hawkins are holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

FUL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.58, while HWKN has a forward P/E of 38.53. We also note that FUL has a PEG ratio of 0.79. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. HWKN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.21.

Another notable valuation metric for FUL is its P/B ratio of 1.58. 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, HWKN has a P/B of 6.75.

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

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

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