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MTUS vs. NWPX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Steel - Speciality sector might want to consider either Metallus (MTUS - Free Report) or NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX - 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.

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

Metallus has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while NWPX Infrastructure has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that MTUS has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

MTUS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.47, while NWPX has a forward P/E of 27.53. We also note that MTUS has a PEG ratio of 1.36. 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. NWPX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.50.

Another notable valuation metric for MTUS is its P/B ratio of 1.07. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, NWPX has a P/B of 3.27.

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

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

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