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NVGS or KEX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Transportation - Shipping stocks have likely encountered both Navigator Holdings (NVGS - Free Report) and Kirby (KEX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Navigator Holdings has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Kirby has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that NVGS likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than KEX has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 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.

NVGS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.08, while KEX has a forward P/E of 19.79. We also note that NVGS has a PEG ratio of 0.93. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.42.

Another notable valuation metric for NVGS is its P/B ratio of 1.19. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, KEX has a P/B of 2.17.

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

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

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