Back to top

Image: Bigstock

ACI or KMB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors with an interest in Consumer Products - Staples stocks have likely encountered both Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI - Free Report) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Albertsons Companies, Inc. and Kimberly-Clark are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that ACI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

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.

ACI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.84, while KMB has a forward P/E of 21.76. We also note that ACI has a PEG ratio of 1.23. 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. KMB currently has a PEG ratio of 4.35.

Another notable valuation metric for ACI is its P/B ratio of 5.86. 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, KMB has a P/B of 58.74.

Based on these metrics and many more, ACI holds a Value grade of A, while KMB has a Value grade of C.

ACI has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than KMB, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ACI is the superior option right now.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) - free report >>

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI) - free report >>

Published in