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MARUY or HON: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Diversified Operations sector have probably already heard of Marubeni Corp. (MARUY - Free Report) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Marubeni Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Honeywell International Inc. 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 MARUY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

MARUY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.99, while HON has a forward P/E of 20.42. We also note that MARUY has a PEG ratio of 1.60. 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. HON currently has a PEG ratio of 2.34.

Another notable valuation metric for MARUY is its P/B ratio of 1.47. 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, HON has a P/B of 7.75.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MARUY's Value grade of A and HON's Value grade of D.

MARUY 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 MARUY is likely the superior value option right now.


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