HCMLY or JHX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
Investors looking for stocks in the Building Products - Miscellaneous sector might want to consider either Holcim Ltd Unsponsored ADR (HCMLY) or James Hardie (JHX). 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.
Holcim Ltd Unsponsored ADR has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while James Hardie has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that HCMLY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst 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 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.
HCMLY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11, while JHX has a forward P/E of 18.88. We also note that HCMLY has a PEG ratio of 2.59. 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. JHX currently has a PEG ratio of 6.72.
Another notable valuation metric for HCMLY is its P/B ratio of 1.20. 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, JHX has a P/B of 6.12.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HCMLY's Value grade of B and JHX's Value grade of C.
HCMLY sticks out from JHX in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that HCMLY is the better option right now.
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Holcim Ltd Unsponsored ADR (HCMLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
James Hardie Industries PLC. (JHX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
