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UTHR vs. ESALY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Drugs stocks have likely encountered both United Therapeutics (UTHR - Free Report) and Eisai Co. . 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.

Currently, United Therapeutics has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Eisai Co. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that UTHR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ESALY has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 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.

UTHR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.65, while ESALY has a forward P/E of 43.46. We also note that UTHR has a PEG ratio of 1.84. 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. ESALY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.31.

Another notable valuation metric for UTHR is its P/B ratio of 2.76. 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, ESALY has a P/B of 3.18.

These metrics, and several others, help UTHR earn a Value grade of B, while ESALY has been given a Value grade of C.

UTHR sticks out from ESALY in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that UTHR is the better option right now.


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