Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - Electronics stocks have likely encountered both EnerSys (ENS) and Eaton (ETN). 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.
EnerSys has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Eaton has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that ENS's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.
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.
ENS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.06, while ETN has a forward P/E of 25.95. We also note that ENS has a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. ETN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.34.
Another notable valuation metric for ENS is its P/B ratio of 2.15. 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, ETN has a P/B of 6.68.
Based on these metrics and many more, ENS holds a Value grade of A, while ETN has a Value grade of C.
ENS sticks out from ETN in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that ENS is the better option right now.
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