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NVEE vs. ACN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Consulting Services stocks have likely encountered both NV5 Holdings (NVEE - Free Report) and Accenture (ACN - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

NV5 Holdings has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Accenture has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that NVEE likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ACN has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

NVEE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.22, while ACN has a forward P/E of 31.13. We also note that NVEE has a PEG ratio of 1.18. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.11.

Another notable valuation metric for NVEE is its P/B ratio of 1.85. 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, ACN has a P/B of 9.17.

These metrics, and several others, help NVEE earn a Value grade of B, while ACN has been given a Value grade of C.

NVEE 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 NVEE is likely the superior value option right now.


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