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COTY or EL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Cosmetics stocks have likely encountered both Coty (COTY - Free Report) and Estee Lauder (EL - 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.

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.

Right now, Coty is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Estee Lauder has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that COTY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

COTY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.47, while EL has a forward P/E of 31.35. We also note that COTY has a PEG ratio of 0.76. 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. EL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.44.

Another notable valuation metric for COTY is its P/B ratio of 1.05. 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, EL has a P/B of 9.65.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to COTY's Value grade of B and EL's Value grade of D.

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

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