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SSW vs. KEX: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Shipping stocks are likely familiar with Seaspan and Kirby (KEX - 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Seaspan is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Kirby has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SSW likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than KEX has recently. But this is only part of the picture 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.

SSW currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.75, while KEX has a forward P/E of 27.47. We also note that SSW has a PEG ratio of 1.23. 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. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.58.

Another notable valuation metric for SSW is its P/B ratio of 0.71. 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, KEX has a P/B of 1.47.

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

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


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