Investors with an interest in Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare stocks have likely encountered both Encompass Health (EHC) and Astrana Health, Inc. (ASTH). 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.

Encompass Health and Astrana Health, Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. This means that EHC's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

EHC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 22.93, while ASTH has a forward P/E of 45.94. We also note that EHC has a PEG ratio of 1.46. 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. ASTH currently has a PEG ratio of 2.29.

Another notable valuation metric for EHC is its P/B ratio of 3.88. 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, ASTH has a P/B of 4.32.

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

EHC 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 EHC is likely the superior value option right now.

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Encompass Health Corporation (EHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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