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PRDO or STRA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Schools stocks are likely familiar with Perdoceo Education (PRDO - Free Report) and Strategic Education (STRA - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Perdoceo Education and Strategic Education are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that PRDO likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than STRA has recently. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

PRDO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.94, while STRA has a forward P/E of 26.52. We also note that PRDO has a PEG ratio of 0.46. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. STRA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.40.

Another notable valuation metric for PRDO is its P/B ratio of 1.09. 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, STRA has a P/B of 1.20.

Based on these metrics and many more, PRDO holds a Value grade of A, while STRA has a Value grade of C.

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


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