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KE or ROK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Electronics - Miscellaneous Products sector have probably already heard of Kimball Electronics (KE - Free Report) and Rockwell Automation (ROK - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Kimball Electronics is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Rockwell Automation 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 KE has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

KE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.57, while ROK has a forward P/E of 32.51. We also note that KE has a PEG ratio of 0.78. 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. ROK currently has a PEG ratio of 2.51.

Another notable valuation metric for KE is its P/B ratio of 0.97. 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, ROK has a P/B of 13.64.

Based on these metrics and many more, KE holds a Value grade of A, while ROK has a Value grade of D.

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

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