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MOH or JYNT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - HMOs stocks have likely encountered both Molina (MOH - Free Report) and The Joint Corp. (JYNT - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Molina has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while The Joint Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that MOH is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.

MOH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.76, while JYNT has a forward P/E of 29.90. We also note that MOH has a PEG ratio of 1.18. 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. JYNT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.99.

Another notable valuation metric for MOH is its P/B ratio of 5.47. 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, JYNT has a P/B of 89.48.

These metrics, and several others, help MOH earn a Value grade of A, while JYNT has been given a Value grade of D.

MOH 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 MOH is likely the superior value option right now.


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Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) - free report >>

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