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MTH or NVR: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Building Products - Home Builders sector might want to consider either Meritage Homes (MTH - Free Report) or NVR (NVR - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great 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.

Right now, Meritage Homes is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while NVR has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that MTH's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

MTH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.75, while NVR has a forward P/E of 17.12. We also note that MTH has a PEG ratio of 3.26. 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. NVR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.73.

Another notable valuation metric for MTH is its P/B ratio of 0.97. 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, NVR has a P/B of 5.07.

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

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

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