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CCHGY vs. PEP: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Beverages - Soft drinks stocks have likely encountered both COCA-COLA HBC (CCHGY - Free Report) and PepsiCo (PEP - 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.

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, COCA-COLA HBC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while PepsiCo has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CCHGY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

CCHGY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.48, while PEP has a forward P/E of 24.83. We also note that CCHGY has a PEG ratio of 2.44. 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. PEP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.55.

Another notable valuation metric for CCHGY is its P/B ratio of 4.12. 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, PEP has a P/B of 13.39.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CCHGY's Value grade of B and PEP's Value grade of D.

CCHGY 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 CCHGY is likely the superior value option right now.


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