Investors looking for stocks in the Schools sector might want to consider either Adtalem Global Education (ATGE) or Grand Canyon Education (LOPE). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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.

Adtalem Global Education and Grand Canyon Education are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ATGE is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

ATGE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.33, while LOPE has a forward P/E of 20.07. We also note that ATGE has a PEG ratio of 1.02. 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. LOPE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.34.

Another notable valuation metric for ATGE is its P/B ratio of 2.40. 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, LOPE has a P/B of 6.27.

These metrics, and several others, help ATGE earn a Value grade of A, while LOPE has been given a Value grade of C.

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

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Adtalem Global Education Inc. (ATGE) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (LOPE) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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