HRC or BLFS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Products sector might want to consider either Hill-Rom (HRC) or BioLife Solutions, Inc. (BLFS). 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.
Hill-Rom has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while BioLife Solutions, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that HRC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BLFS has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.
HRC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.08, while BLFS has a forward P/E of 178.77. We also note that HRC has a PEG ratio of 2.63. 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. BLFS currently has a PEG ratio of 17.88.
Another notable valuation metric for HRC is its P/B ratio of 4.16. 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, BLFS has a P/B of 5.56.
These metrics, and several others, help HRC earn a Value grade of B, while BLFS has been given a Value grade of D.
HRC sticks out from BLFS in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that HRC is the better option right now.
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HillRom Holdings, Inc. (HRC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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