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HCCI vs. SMED: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Pollution Control sector have probably already heard of Heritage-Crystal Clean and Sharps Compliance . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Heritage-Crystal Clean and Sharps Compliance are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

HCCI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 22.98, while SMED has a forward P/E of 36.44. We also note that HCCI has a PEG ratio of 1.53. 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. SMED currently has a PEG ratio of 1.58.

Another notable valuation metric for HCCI is its P/B ratio of 2.15. 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, SMED has a P/B of 7.04.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HCCI's Value grade of B and SMED's Value grade of D.

Both HCCI and SMED are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that HCCI is the superior value option right now.

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