Investors looking for stocks in the Technology Services sector might want to consider either Coherent (COHR) or Ibotta (IBTA). 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Coherent is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Ibotta has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that COHR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than IBTA has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

COHR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 34.35, while IBTA has a forward P/E of 357.63. We also note that COHR has a PEG ratio of 0.78. 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. IBTA currently has a PEG ratio of 9.40.

Another notable valuation metric for COHR is its P/B ratio of 2.69. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, IBTA has a P/B of 5.84.

Based on these metrics and many more, COHR holds a Value grade of B, while IBTA has a Value grade of D.

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

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