Back to top

Image: Bigstock

URI or JHX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors interested in stocks from the Building Products - Miscellaneous sector have probably already heard of United Rentals (URI - Free Report) and James Hardie (JHX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, United Rentals is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while James Hardie has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that URI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

URI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.29, while JHX has a forward P/E of 15.77. We also note that URI has a PEG ratio of 0.69. 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. JHX currently has a PEG ratio of 5.61.

Another notable valuation metric for URI is its P/B ratio of 4.62. 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, JHX has a P/B of 6.08.

These metrics, and several others, help URI earn a Value grade of A, while JHX has been given a Value grade of C.

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


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


United Rentals, Inc. (URI) - free report >>

James Hardie Industries PLC. (JHX) - free report >>

Published in