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RBC or ETN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - Electronics stocks have likely encountered both Regal Beloit (RBC - Free Report) and Eaton (ETN - 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.

Currently, both Regal Beloit and Eaton are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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 highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

RBC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.99, while ETN has a forward P/E of 25.13. We also note that RBC has a PEG ratio of 1.80. 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. ETN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.28.

Another notable valuation metric for RBC is its P/B ratio of 2.22. 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, ETN has a P/B of 4.19.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to RBC's Value grade of B and ETN's Value grade of C.

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


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Eaton Corporation, PLC (ETN) - free report >>

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