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IMBBY vs. MO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Tobacco stocks are likely familiar with Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (IMBBY - Free Report) and Altria (MO - 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.

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

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Altria has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that IMBBY has an improving earnings outlook. 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.

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.

IMBBY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.04, while MO has a forward P/E of 13.47. We also note that IMBBY has a PEG ratio of 1.53. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. MO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69.

Another notable valuation metric for IMBBY is its P/B ratio of 3.80. 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, MO has a P/B of 7.20.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to IMBBY's Value grade of A and MO's Value grade of D.

IMBBY stands above MO thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that IMBBY is the superior value option right now.


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