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

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Investors interested in stocks from the Consumer Products - Staples sector have probably already heard of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI - Free Report) and Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (GO - 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, both Albertsons Companies, Inc. and Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

ACI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.29, while GO has a forward P/E of 44.84. We also note that ACI has a PEG ratio of 1.52. 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. GO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.29.

Another notable valuation metric for ACI is its P/B ratio of 3.48. 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, GO has a P/B of 4.13.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to ACI's Value grade of A and GO's Value grade of C.

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


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