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LZ or GWW: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Industrial Services stocks are likely familiar with LegalZoom (LZ - Free Report) and W.W. Grainger (GWW - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, both LegalZoom and W.W. Grainger are sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

LZ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.37, while GWW has a forward P/E of 29.79. We also note that LZ has a PEG ratio of 0.52. 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. GWW currently has a PEG ratio of 2.50.

Another notable valuation metric for LZ is its P/B ratio of 8.33. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, GWW has a P/B of 14.76.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to LZ's Value grade of A and GWW's Value grade of D.

Both LZ and GWW are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that LZ is the superior value option right now.

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