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CECE or TTEK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Pollution Control stocks are likely familiar with CECO Environmental and Tetra Tech (TTEK - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

CECO Environmental and Tetra Tech are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that CECE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

CECE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.69, while TTEK has a forward P/E of 21.72. We also note that CECE has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. TTEK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.45.

Another notable valuation metric for CECE is its P/B ratio of 1.52. 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, TTEK has a P/B of 3.74.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CECE's Value grade of A and TTEK's Value grade of C.

CECE 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 CECE is likely the superior value option right now.


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