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SSL or XOM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Oil and Gas - Integrated - International stocks have likely encountered both Sasol (SSL - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil (XOM - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Sasol and Exxon Mobil are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that SSL has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

SSL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.63, while XOM has a forward P/E of 26.65. We also note that SSL has a PEG ratio of 1.69. 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. XOM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.38.

Another notable valuation metric for SSL is its P/B ratio of 0.79. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, XOM has a P/B of 1.46.

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

SSL 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 SSL is likely the superior value option right now.


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