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LIN or ECL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Specialty stocks are likely familiar with Linde (LIN - Free Report) and Ecolab (ECL - 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.

Linde has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Ecolab has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that LIN's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether 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.

LIN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 26.70, while ECL has a forward P/E of 36.19. We also note that LIN has a PEG ratio of 2.67. 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. ECL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.86.

Another notable valuation metric for LIN is its P/B ratio of 4.40. 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, ECL has a P/B of 6.97.

Based on these metrics and many more, LIN holds a Value grade of B, while ECL has a Value grade of C.

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


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