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UNVR vs. AIQUY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Chemical - Diversified stocks have likely encountered both Univar and Air Liquide (AIQUY - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Univar has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Air Liquide has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that UNVR has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 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.

UNVR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.16, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 25.63. We also note that UNVR has a PEG ratio of 0.84. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.18.

Another notable valuation metric for UNVR is its P/B ratio of 2.39. 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, AIQUY has a P/B of 3.21.

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

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


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