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ITRN or ALLE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Security and Safety Services sector have probably already heard of Ituran (ITRN - Free Report) and Allegion (ALLE - 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.

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.

Right now, Ituran is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Allegion has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ITRN is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

ITRN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.45, while ALLE has a forward P/E of 17.50. We also note that ITRN has a PEG ratio of 0.84. 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. ALLE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.37.

Another notable valuation metric for ITRN is its P/B ratio of 4.10. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ALLE has a P/B of 12.47.

Based on these metrics and many more, ITRN holds a Value grade of B, while ALLE has a Value grade of D.

ITRN has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ALLE, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ITRN is the superior option right now.


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