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HII vs. LMT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Aerospace - Defense stocks have likely encountered both Huntington Ingalls (HII - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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 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.

Right now, Huntington Ingalls is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Lockheed Martin has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HII is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 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.

HII currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.80, while LMT has a forward P/E of 17.53. We also note that HII has a PEG ratio of 2.07. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. LMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.32.

Another notable valuation metric for HII is its P/B ratio of 2.31. 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, LMT has a P/B of 16.61.

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

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


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