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ABBV vs. LLY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks have likely encountered both AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

AbbVie has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Eli Lilly has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that ABBV has an improving earnings outlook. 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

ABBV currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.34, while LLY has a forward P/E of 90.24. We also note that ABBV has a PEG ratio of 2.47. 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. LLY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.63.

Another notable valuation metric for ABBV is its P/B ratio of 20.13. 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, LLY has a P/B of 50.17.

These metrics, and several others, help ABBV earn a Value grade of B, while LLY has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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