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GEAGY vs. IEX: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector have probably already heard of GEA GROUP AG SP and Idex (IEX - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Both GEA GROUP AG SP and Idex have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

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.

GEAGY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.12, while IEX has a forward P/E of 29.13. We also note that GEAGY has a PEG ratio of 2.02. 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. IEX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.65.

Another notable valuation metric for GEAGY is its P/B ratio of 2.52. 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, IEX has a P/B of 5.98.

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

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


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