HRC vs. BLFS: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
Investors interested in Medical - Products stocks are likely familiar with Hill-Rom (HRC) and BioLife Solutions, Inc. (BLFS). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.
Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Hill-Rom and BioLife Solutions, Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that HRC has an improving earnings outlook. 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.
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.
HRC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.45, while BLFS has a forward P/E of 524.75. We also note that HRC has a PEG ratio of 2.54. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. BLFS currently has a PEG ratio of 52.47.
Another notable valuation metric for HRC is its P/B ratio of 4.03. 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, BLFS has a P/B of 7.19.
These metrics, and several others, help HRC earn a Value grade of B, while BLFS has been given a Value grade of D.
HRC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that HRC is likely the superior value option right now.
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