LH vs. CNMD: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Dental Supplies sector have probably already heard of LabCorp (LH) and Conmed (CNMD). 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.
We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.
Right now, LabCorp is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Conmed has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that LH likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than CNMD has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
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.
LH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.60, while CNMD has a forward P/E of 56.16. We also note that LH has a PEG ratio of 1.04. 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. CNMD currently has a PEG ratio of 5.22.
Another notable valuation metric for LH is its P/B ratio of 2.36. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, CNMD has a P/B of 3.52.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to LH's Value grade of B and CNMD's Value grade of C.
LH has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than CNMD, so it seems like value investors will conclude that LH is the superior option right now.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
CONMED Corporation (CNMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
