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WAIR or GD: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Aerospace - Defense sector have probably already heard of Wesco Aircraft Holdings and General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Wesco Aircraft Holdings has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while General Dynamics 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 WAIR is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

WAIR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.01, while GD has a forward P/E of 14.43. We also note that WAIR has a PEG ratio of 1. 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. GD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.62.

Another notable valuation metric for WAIR is its P/B ratio of 1.42. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, GD has a P/B of 4.

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

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


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