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ZTO vs. CHRW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Services stocks are likely familiar with ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (ZTO - Free Report) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW - 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.

Right now, ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while C.H. Robinson Worldwide 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 ZTO 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.

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.

ZTO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.80, while CHRW has a forward P/E of 32.68. We also note that ZTO has a PEG ratio of 0.87. 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. CHRW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.72.

Another notable valuation metric for ZTO is its P/B ratio of 1.49. 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, CHRW has a P/B of 13.81.

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

ZTO is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that ZTO is likely the superior value option right now.

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