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VIR vs. ILMN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks have likely encountered both Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR - Free Report) and Illumina (ILMN - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Vir Biotechnology, Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Illumina has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that VIR has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

VIR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 3.15, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 76.87. We also note that VIR has a PEG ratio of 0.29. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.47.

Another notable valuation metric for VIR is its P/B ratio of 3.75. 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, ILMN has a P/B of 4.75.

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

VIR is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that VIR is likely the superior value option right now.


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