Investors looking for stocks in the Transportation - Shipping sector might want to consider either ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM Quick QuoteZIM - Free Report) or Kirby (KEX Quick QuoteKEX - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Both ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and Kirby have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

ZIM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 2.99, while KEX has a forward P/E of 20.65. We also note that ZIM has a PEG ratio of 0.09. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.69.

Another notable valuation metric for ZIM is its P/B ratio of 0.88. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, KEX has a P/B of 2.02.

Based on these metrics and many more, ZIM holds a Value grade of A, while KEX has 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.