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BIG vs. ROST: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Retail - Discount Stores sector have probably already heard of Big Lots (BIG - Free Report) and Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Big Lots is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Ross Stores 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 BIG has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

BIG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.68, while ROST has a forward P/E of 89.11. We also note that BIG has a PEG ratio of 1.09. 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. ROST currently has a PEG ratio of 8.91.

Another notable valuation metric for BIG is its P/B ratio of 1.50. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ROST has a P/B of 11.55.

These metrics, and several others, help BIG earn a Value grade of B, while ROST has been given a Value grade of D.

BIG has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ROST, so it seems like value investors will conclude that BIG is the superior option right now.


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