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KOF vs. KO: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Beverages - Soft drinks stocks are likely familiar with Coca-Cola FEMSA (KOF - Free Report) and Coca-Cola (KO - 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.

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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Coca-Cola FEMSA and Coca-Cola are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that KOF's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

KOF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.44, while KO has a forward P/E of 23.87. We also note that KOF has a PEG ratio of 1.51. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. KO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.10.

Another notable valuation metric for KOF is its P/B ratio of 1.67. 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, KO has a P/B of 10.23.

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

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


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CocaCola Company (The) (KO) - free report >>

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