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META or BL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Internet - Software sector might want to consider either Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) or BlackLine (BL - 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.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, both Meta Platforms and BlackLine are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

META currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.34, while BL has a forward P/E of 67.91. We also note that META has a PEG ratio of 1.76. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. BL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.84.

Another notable valuation metric for META is its P/B ratio of 3.73. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, BL has a P/B of 33.12.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to META's Value grade of B and BL's Value grade of D.

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


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