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LTH vs. PACS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Medical Services stocks are likely familiar with Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. (LTH - Free Report) and PACS Group, Inc. (PACS - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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.

Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while PACS Group, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that LTH's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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 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.

LTH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 32.61, while PACS has a forward P/E of 38.41. We also note that LTH has a PEG ratio of 2.35. 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. PACS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.56.

Another notable valuation metric for LTH is its P/B ratio of 2.04. 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, PACS has a P/B of 10.43.

These metrics, and several others, help LTH earn a Value grade of B, while PACS has been given a Value grade of C.

LTH has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than PACS, so it seems like value investors will conclude that LTH is the superior option right now.


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