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

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Investors interested in Electronics - Miscellaneous Products stocks are likely familiar with Kimball Electronics (KE - Free Report) and Rockwell Automation (ROK - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Kimball Electronics has 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 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 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.

KE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.06, while ROK has a forward P/E of 32.79. We also note that KE has a PEG ratio of 0.90. 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 2.53.

Another notable valuation metric for KE is its P/B ratio of 1.12. 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, ROK has a P/B of 13.79.

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

KE stands above ROK thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that KE is the superior value option right now.

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