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HUN or ALB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with Huntsman (HUN - Free Report) and Albemarle (ALB - 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.

Right now, Huntsman is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Albemarle has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that HUN has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

HUN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.66, while ALB has a forward P/E of 41.53. We also note that HUN has a PEG ratio of 1.43. 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. ALB currently has a PEG ratio of 3.52.

Another notable valuation metric for HUN is its P/B ratio of 1.66. 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, ALB has a P/B of 3.47.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HUN's Value grade of A and ALB's Value grade of D.

HUN 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 HUN is likely the superior value option right now.


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