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AZZ or ZWS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Manufacturing - Electronics sector might want to consider either AZZ (AZZ - Free Report) or Zurn Water (ZWS - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

AZZ and Zurn Water are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that AZZ has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

AZZ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.22, while ZWS has a forward P/E of 29.80. We also note that AZZ has a PEG ratio of 1.16. 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. ZWS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.94.

Another notable valuation metric for AZZ is its P/B ratio of 2.87. 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, ZWS has a P/B of 3.87.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AZZ's Value grade of A and ZWS's Value grade of C.

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


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AZZ Inc. (AZZ) - free report >>

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