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HTHIY or DHR: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Diversified Operations sector might want to consider either Hitachi Ltd. (HTHIY - Free Report) or Danaher (DHR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 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.

Hitachi Ltd. and Danaher are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HTHIY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

HTHIY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 29.73, while DHR has a forward P/E of 35.58. We also note that HTHIY has a PEG ratio of 1.98. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. DHR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.18.

Another notable valuation metric for HTHIY is its P/B ratio of 2.32. 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, DHR has a P/B of 3.91.

Based on these metrics and many more, HTHIY holds a Value grade of B, while DHR has a Value grade of F.

HTHIY 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 HTHIY is likely the superior value option right now.


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