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DVA vs. AMED: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors with an interest in Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare stocks have likely encountered both DaVita HealthCare (DVA) and Amedisys (AMED). 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, both DaVita HealthCare and Amedisys are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

DVA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.95, while AMED has a forward P/E of 32.31. We also note that DVA has a PEG ratio of 0.61. 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. AMED currently has a PEG ratio of 1.99.

Another notable valuation metric for DVA is its P/B ratio of 2.43. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, AMED has a P/B of 7.59.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to DVA's Value grade of A and AMED's Value grade of C.

Both DVA and AMED are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that DVA is the superior value option right now.


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DaVita Inc. (DVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Amedisys, Inc. (AMED) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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