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

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Investors interested in stocks from the Schools sector have probably already heard of Perdoceo Education (PRDO - Free Report) and Afya (AFYA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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

Currently, Perdoceo Education has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Afya has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that PRDO's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

PRDO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.43, while AFYA has a forward P/E of 16.45. We also note that PRDO has a PEG ratio of 0.56. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AFYA currently has a PEG ratio of 0.93.

Another notable valuation metric for PRDO is its P/B ratio of 1.37. 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, AFYA has a P/B of 2.58.

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

PRDO has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AFYA, so it seems like value investors will conclude that PRDO is the superior option right now.


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