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FUL or HWKN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Chemical - Specialty sector might want to consider either H. B. Fuller (FUL - Free Report) or Hawkins (HWKN - 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 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.

Currently, H. B. Fuller has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Hawkins has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that FUL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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 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.

FUL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.27, while HWKN has a forward P/E of 26.33. We also note that FUL has a PEG ratio of 1.30. 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. HWKN currently has a PEG ratio of 4.39.

Another notable valuation metric for FUL is its P/B ratio of 2.45. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, HWKN has a P/B of 4.99.

These metrics, and several others, help FUL earn a Value grade of B, while HWKN has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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H. B. Fuller Company (FUL) - free report >>

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