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BMY or AZN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are likely familiar with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) and Astrazeneca (AZN - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Astrazeneca are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BMY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AZN has recently. 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.

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.

BMY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.86, while AZN has a forward P/E of 22.07. We also note that BMY has a PEG ratio of 1.20. 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. AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.37.

Another notable valuation metric for BMY is its P/B ratio of 2.34. 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, AZN has a P/B of 8.

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

BMY stands above AZN thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that BMY is the superior value option right now.


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