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SKFRY vs. ESAB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication sector might want to consider either AB SKF (SKFRY - Free Report) or Esab (ESAB - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

AB SKF and Esab are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SKFRY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ESAB has recently. 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.

SKFRY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.45, while ESAB has a forward P/E of 17.51. We also note that SKFRY has a PEG ratio of 0.52. 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. ESAB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.49.

Another notable valuation metric for SKFRY is its P/B ratio of 1.68. 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, ESAB has a P/B of 3.29.

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

SKFRY is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that SKFRY is likely the superior value option right now.


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