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LH vs. CNMD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Dental Supplies stocks have likely encountered both LabCorp (LH - Free Report) and Conmed (CNMD - 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.

LabCorp has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Conmed has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. 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 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

LH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.05, while CNMD has a forward P/E of 43.47. We also note that LH has a PEG ratio of 1.14. 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 4.38.

Another notable valuation metric for LH is its P/B ratio of 2.69. 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 5.50.

Based on these metrics and many more, LH holds a Value grade of A, while CNMD has a 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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