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NVS vs. LLY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks have likely encountered both Novartis (NVS - Free Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - 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.

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

Novartis has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Eli Lilly has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that NVS's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

NVS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.78, while LLY has a forward P/E of 59.16. We also note that NVS has a PEG ratio of 1.48. 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. LLY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.96.

Another notable valuation metric for NVS is its P/B ratio of 4.60. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, LLY has a P/B of 51.64.

These metrics, and several others, help NVS earn a Value grade of A, while LLY has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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