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VEOEY vs. GWRS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Utility - Water Supply stocks have likely encountered both Veolia Environnement SA (VEOEY - Free Report) and Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS - 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.

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.

Veolia Environnement SA has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Global Water Resources, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that VEOEY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than GWRS has recently. 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.

VEOEY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.63, while GWRS has a forward P/E of 75.15. We also note that VEOEY has a PEG ratio of 1.62. 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. GWRS currently has a PEG ratio of 5.01.

Another notable valuation metric for VEOEY is its P/B ratio of 1.67. 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, GWRS has a P/B of 7.53.

Based on these metrics and many more, VEOEY holds a Value grade of A, while GWRS has a Value grade of F.

VEOEY stands above GWRS thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that VEOEY is the superior value option right now.


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