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NVST vs. ABT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Products sector have probably already heard of Envista (NVST - Free Report) and Abbott (ABT - 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.

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.

Envista and Abbott are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that NVST's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

NVST currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.22, while ABT has a forward P/E of 19.56. We also note that NVST has a PEG ratio of 1.47. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.09.

Another notable valuation metric for NVST is its P/B ratio of 1.45. 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, ABT has a P/B of 3.61.

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

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

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