PDCO vs. WST: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
Investors interested in Medical - Dental Supplies stocks are likely familiar with Patterson Cos. (PDCO) and West Pharmaceutical Services (WST). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Currently, both Patterson Cos. and West Pharmaceutical Services are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.
PDCO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.78, while WST has a forward P/E of 51.34. We also note that PDCO has a PEG ratio of 1.64. 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. WST currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88.
Another notable valuation metric for PDCO is its P/B ratio of 3.17. 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, WST has a P/B of 15.37.
These metrics, and several others, help PDCO earn a Value grade of B, while WST has been given a Value grade of D.
Both PDCO and WST are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that PDCO is the superior value option right now.
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Patterson Companies, Inc. (PDCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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