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DXPE or B: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks are likely familiar with DXP Enterprises (DXPE - Free Report) and Barnes Group (B - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, DXP Enterprises has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Barnes Group has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that DXPE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

DXPE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.62, while B has a forward P/E of 16.88. We also note that DXPE has a PEG ratio of 0.89. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. B currently has a PEG ratio of 2.41.

Another notable valuation metric for DXPE is its P/B ratio of 2.06. 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, B has a P/B of 2.28.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to DXPE's Value grade of B and B's Value grade of C.

DXPE sticks out from B in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that DXPE is the better option right now.


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