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ASBFY or UTZ: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Food - Miscellaneous stocks have likely encountered both Associated British Foods PLC (ASBFY - Free Report) and Utz Brands (UTZ - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Associated British Foods PLC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Utz Brands has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ASBFY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than UTZ has recently. 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.

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.

ASBFY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.68, while UTZ has a forward P/E of 32.32. We also note that ASBFY has a PEG ratio of 2.44. 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. UTZ currently has a PEG ratio of 3.11.

Another notable valuation metric for ASBFY is its P/B ratio of 1.31. 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, UTZ has a P/B of 1.68.

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

ASBFY 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 ASBFY is likely the superior value option right now.


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