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LDOS or NOC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Aerospace - Defense stocks have likely encountered both Leidos (LDOS - Free Report) and Northrop Grumman (NOC - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Leidos has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Northrop Grumman has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that LDOS likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NOC has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

LDOS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.21, while NOC has a forward P/E of 20.75. We also note that LDOS has a PEG ratio of 1.87. 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. NOC currently has a PEG ratio of 8.57.

Another notable valuation metric for LDOS is its P/B ratio of 3.49. 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, NOC has a P/B of 4.46.

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

LDOS stands above NOC thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that LDOS is the superior value option right now.


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