Investors with an interest in Transportation - Shipping stocks have likely encountered both ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM Quick QuoteZIM - Free Report) and Kirby (KEX Quick QuoteKEX - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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.

Both ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and Kirby have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

ZIM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.94, while KEX has a forward P/E of 23.18. We also note that ZIM has a PEG ratio of 0.15. 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. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.75.

Another notable valuation metric for ZIM is its P/B ratio of 0.80. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, KEX has a P/B of 2.24.

These metrics, and several others, help ZIM earn a Value grade of A, while KEX has been given a Value grade of C.

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