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STRL vs. HWM: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Engineering - R and D Services stocks are likely familiar with Sterling Infrastructure (STRL - Free Report) and Howmet (HWM - 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.

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

Sterling Infrastructure and Howmet are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that STRL has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.

STRL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.03, while HWM has a forward P/E of 25.43. We also note that STRL has a PEG ratio of 0.61. 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. HWM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.06.

Another notable valuation metric for STRL is its P/B ratio of 2.62. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, HWM has a P/B of 4.90.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to STRL's Value grade of A and HWM's Value grade of D.

STRL is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that STRL is likely the superior value option right now.


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Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) - free report >>

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