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STX vs. NTAP: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Computer- Storage Devices stocks are likely familiar with Seagate (STX - Free Report) and NetApp (NTAP - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Seagate has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while NetApp has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that STX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NTAP has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

STX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.52, while NTAP has a forward P/E of 19.66. We also note that STX has a PEG ratio of 0.64. 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. NTAP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.42.

Another notable valuation metric for STX is its P/B ratio of 9.15. 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, NTAP has a P/B of 10.82.

Based on these metrics and many more, STX holds a Value grade of A, while NTAP has a Value grade of C.

STX is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that STX is likely the superior value option right now.


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