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GBX vs. WAB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Equipment and Leasing stocks are likely familiar with Greenbrier Companies (GBX - Free Report) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Greenbrier Companies has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that GBX's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

GBX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.79, while WAB has a forward P/E of 17.48. We also note that GBX has a PEG ratio of 0.93. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. WAB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.40.

Another notable valuation metric for GBX is its P/B ratio of 0.69. 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, WAB has a P/B of 1.40.

Based on these metrics and many more, GBX holds a Value grade of A, while WAB has a Value grade of C.

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


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Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (The) (GBX) - free report >>

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (WAB) - free report >>

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