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LH vs. CRL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical Services sector have probably already heard of Labcorp Holdings (LH - Free Report) and Charles River Laboratories (CRL - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Labcorp Holdings is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Charles River Laboratories has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that LH has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

LH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.35, while CRL has a forward P/E of 16.57. We also note that LH has a PEG ratio of 1.81. 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. CRL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.20.

Another notable valuation metric for LH is its P/B ratio of 2.43. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, CRL has a P/B of 3.04.

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

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

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