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JCI vs. ALLE: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Security and Safety Services sector might want to consider either Johnson Controls (JCI - Free Report) or Allegion (ALLE - 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 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.

Right now, Johnson Controls is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Allegion has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that JCI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

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.

JCI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.33, while ALLE has a forward P/E of 17.17. We also note that JCI has a PEG ratio of 1.12. 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. ALLE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.34.

Another notable valuation metric for JCI is its P/B ratio of 1.47. 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, ALLE has a P/B of 15.83.

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

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


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