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ENGIY or PNW: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Utility - Electric Power sector have probably already heard of ENGIE - Sponsored ADR (ENGIY - Free Report) and Pinnacle West (PNW - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

ENGIE - Sponsored ADR and Pinnacle West are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that ENGIY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

ENGIY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.09, while PNW has a forward P/E of 21.96. We also note that ENGIY has a PEG ratio of 3.62. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. PNW currently has a PEG ratio of 3.78.

Another notable valuation metric for ENGIY is its P/B ratio of 1.68. 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, PNW has a P/B of 1.76.

These metrics, and several others, help ENGIY earn a Value grade of B, while PNW has been given a Value grade of C.

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

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