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HII or LMT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Aerospace - Defense stocks have likely encountered both Huntington Ingalls (HII - Free Report) and Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Huntington Ingalls and Lockheed Martin are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HII is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

HII currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.69, while LMT has a forward P/E of 19.07. We also note that HII has a PEG ratio of 0.98. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. LMT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.60.

Another notable valuation metric for HII is its P/B ratio of 6.46. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, LMT has a P/B of 192.86.

These metrics, and several others, help HII earn a Value grade of A, while LMT has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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