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GEHC vs. SYK: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Products stocks have likely encountered both GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC - Free Report) and Stryker (SYK - 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.

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 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.

GE HealthCare Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Stryker has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that GEHC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than SYK has recently. 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.

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.

GEHC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.97, while SYK has a forward P/E of 18.23. We also note that GEHC has a PEG ratio of 1.69. 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. SYK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.73.

Another notable valuation metric for GEHC is its P/B ratio of 2.63. 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, SYK has a P/B of 4.36.

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

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

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