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AR vs. CXO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States sector have probably already heard of Antero Resources (AR - Free Report) and Concho Resources . 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Antero Resources and Concho Resources are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

AR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.16, while CXO has a forward P/E of 27.42. We also note that AR has a PEG ratio of 0.61. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CXO currently has a PEG ratio of 0.95.

Another notable valuation metric for AR is its P/B ratio of 0.49. 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, CXO has a P/B of 1.56.

These metrics, and several others, help AR earn a Value grade of A, while CXO has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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