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TEX or ASTE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - Construction and Mining stocks have likely encountered both Terex (TEX - Free Report) and Astec Industries (ASTE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 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.

Terex and Astec Industries are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that TEX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ASTE has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

TEX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.35, while ASTE has a forward P/E of 12.50. We also note that TEX has a PEG ratio of 0.86. 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. ASTE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.14.

Another notable valuation metric for TEX is its P/B ratio of 1.32. 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, ASTE has a P/B of 1.4.

Based on these metrics and many more, TEX holds a Value grade of B, while ASTE has a Value grade of C.

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

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