Investors interested in Medical - Dental Supplies stocks are likely familiar with LabCorp (LH) and Align Technology (ALGN). 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

LabCorp has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Align Technology has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that LH likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ALGN has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

LH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.38, while ALGN has a forward P/E of 54.08. We also note that LH has a PEG ratio of 1.08. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ALGN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.04.

Another notable valuation metric for LH is its P/B ratio of 2.63. 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, ALGN has a P/B of 13.87.

These metrics, and several others, help LH earn a Value grade of A, while ALGN has been given a Value grade of C.

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

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Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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