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HIBB or ULTA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Retail - Miscellaneous sector might want to consider either Hibbett Sports or Ulta Beauty (ULTA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Hibbett Sports is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Ulta Beauty has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that HIBB likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ULTA has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

HIBB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 24.66, while ULTA has a forward P/E of 46.32. We also note that HIBB has a PEG ratio of 3.19. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.23.

Another notable valuation metric for HIBB is its P/B ratio of 1.23. 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, ULTA has a P/B of 6.52.

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

HIBB 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 HIBB is likely the superior value option right now.


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