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GM or TSLA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Automotive - Domestic stocks have likely encountered both General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - 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.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, both General Motors Company and Tesla are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

GM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.56, while TSLA has a forward P/E of 55.44. We also note that GM has a PEG ratio of 0.59. 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. TSLA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.94.

Another notable valuation metric for GM is its P/B ratio of 0.62. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TSLA has a P/B of 12.26.

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

Both GM and TSLA are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that GM is the superior value option right now.


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