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DRH or NHI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the REIT and Equity Trust - Other sector might want to consider either DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH - Free Report) or National Health Investors (NHI - 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

DiamondRock Hospitality and National Health Investors are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. This means that DRH's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

DRH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.35, while NHI has a forward P/E of 13.72. We also note that DRH has a PEG ratio of 1.65. 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. NHI currently has a PEG ratio of 3.49.

Another notable valuation metric for DRH is its P/B ratio of 1.72. 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, NHI has a P/B of 2.01.

These metrics, and several others, help DRH earn a Value grade of B, while NHI has been given a Value grade of D.

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

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