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AVNT or AIQUY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Chemical - Diversified sector have probably already heard of Avient (AVNT - Free Report) and Air Liquide (AIQUY - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Avient and Air Liquide are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AVNT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

AVNT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.96, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 25.85. We also note that AVNT has a PEG ratio of 1.29. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.60.

Another notable valuation metric for AVNT is its P/B ratio of 1.67. 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, AIQUY has a P/B of 4.07.

Based on these metrics and many more, AVNT holds a Value grade of B, while AIQUY has a Value grade of F.

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

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