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HMSY or OMCL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical Info Systems sector might want to consider either HMS Holdings or Omnicell (OMCL - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

HMS Holdings and Omnicell are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (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 HMSY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

HMSY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 26.13, while OMCL has a forward P/E of 27.46. We also note that HMSY has a PEG ratio of 2.61. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. OMCL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.75.

Another notable valuation metric for HMSY is its P/B ratio of 3.17. 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, OMCL has a P/B of 3.29.

Based on these metrics and many more, HMSY holds a Value grade of B, while OMCL has a Value grade of C.

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


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