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FUL vs. HWKN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Specialty stocks are likely familiar with H. B. Fuller (FUL - Free Report) and Hawkins (HWKN - 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

H. B. Fuller has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Hawkins has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that FUL 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 tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks 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.

FUL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.36, while HWKN has a forward P/E of 29.16. We also note that FUL has a PEG ratio of 1.38. 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 4.86.

Another notable valuation metric for FUL is its P/B ratio of 2.59. 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 5.52.

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

FUL sticks out from HWKN in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that FUL is the better option right now.


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

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