Back to top

Image: Bigstock

PAYC or NET: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors interested in stocks from the Internet - Software sector have probably already heard of Paycom Software (PAYC - Free Report) and Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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.

Both Paycom Software and Cloudflare have a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

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.

PAYC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.33, while NET has a forward P/E of 248.83. We also note that PAYC has a PEG ratio of 1.01. 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. NET currently has a PEG ratio of 6.12.

Another notable valuation metric for PAYC is its P/B ratio of 15.84. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, NET has a P/B of 77.93.

Based on these metrics and many more, PAYC holds a Value grade of B, while NET has a Value grade of F.

Both PAYC and NET are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that PAYC is the superior value option right now.

Published in