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BLD or JHX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Building Products - Miscellaneous stocks have likely encountered both TopBuild (BLD - Free Report) and James Hardie (JHX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, TopBuild has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while James Hardie has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BLD 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 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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

BLD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.47, while JHX has a forward P/E of 23.41. We also note that BLD has a PEG ratio of 2.05. 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. JHX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.06.

Another notable valuation metric for BLD is its P/B ratio of 5.20. 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, JHX has a P/B of 8.29.

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

BLD 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 BLD is likely the superior value option right now.


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James Hardie Industries PLC. (JHX) - free report >>

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