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HIBB vs. ULTA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Retail - Miscellaneous stocks are likely familiar with Hibbett Sports and Ulta Beauty (ULTA - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Hibbett Sports is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Ulta Beauty has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HIBB is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

HIBB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.41, while ULTA has a forward P/E of 19.08. We also note that HIBB has a PEG ratio of 0.77. 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. ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.10.

Another notable valuation metric for HIBB is its P/B ratio of 0.97. 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, ULTA has a P/B of 7.30.

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

HIBB is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that HIBB is likely the superior value option right now.


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