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ITOCY vs. ULTA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Retail - Miscellaneous sector might want to consider either Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - Free Report) or Ulta Beauty (ULTA - 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.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Itochu Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Ulta Beauty has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ITOCY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ULTA has recently. 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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

ITOCY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.54, while ULTA has a forward P/E of 21.93. We also note that ITOCY has a PEG ratio of 0.49. 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. ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14.

Another notable valuation metric for ITOCY is its P/B ratio of 1.22. 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, ULTA has a P/B of 14.36.

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

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


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