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LH or CNMD: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Medical - Dental Supplies stocks are likely familiar with LabCorp (LH - Free Report) and Conmed (CNMD - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, LabCorp has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Conmed 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 LH is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 9.85, while CNMD has a forward P/E of 44.61. We also note that LH has a PEG ratio of 0.97. 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. CNMD currently has a PEG ratio of 4.15.

Another notable valuation metric for LH is its P/B ratio of 2.36. 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, CNMD has a P/B of 3.98.

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

LH stands above CNMD thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that LH is the superior value option right now.


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