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AL vs. WAB: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Equipment and Leasing stocks are likely familiar with Air Lease (AL - Free Report) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB - 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, Air Lease has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AL is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

AL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.54, while WAB has a forward P/E of 17.60. We also note that AL has a PEG ratio of 0.82. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. WAB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.61.

Another notable valuation metric for AL is its P/B ratio of 0.96. 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, WAB has a P/B of 1.58.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AL's Value grade of A and WAB's Value grade of D.

AL 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 AL is likely the superior value option right now.


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