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TAL or LINC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Schools stocks have likely encountered both TAL Education (TAL - Free Report) and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (LINC - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

TAL Education has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Lincoln Educational Services Corporation has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that TAL is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

TAL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.26, while LINC has a forward P/E of 31.59. We also note that TAL has a PEG ratio of 0.75. 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. LINC currently has a PEG ratio of 2.11.

Another notable valuation metric for TAL is its P/B ratio of 1.61. 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, LINC has a P/B of 3.8.

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

TAL is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that TAL is likely the superior value option right now.

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