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KEP vs. SO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Electric Power sector might want to consider either Korea Electric Power (KEP - Free Report) or Southern Co. (SO - 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Korea Electric Power has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Southern Co. 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 KEP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

KEP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.15, while SO has a forward P/E of 17.98. We also note that KEP has a PEG ratio of 1.43. 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. SO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.57.

Another notable valuation metric for KEP is its P/B ratio of 0.24. 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, SO has a P/B of 1.96.

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

KEP sticks out from SO in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that KEP is the better option right now.


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