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BIG vs. ROST: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Retail - Discount Stores sector have probably already heard of Big Lots and Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) . 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.

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 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, Big Lots is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Ross Stores has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BIG is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

BIG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.71, while ROST has a forward P/E of 82.54. We also note that BIG has a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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. ROST currently has a PEG ratio of 8.25.

Another notable valuation metric for BIG is its P/B ratio of 1.82. 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, ROST has a P/B of 10.70.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BIG's Value grade of B and ROST's Value grade of D.

BIG has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than ROST, so it seems like value investors will conclude that BIG is the superior option right now.


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