Investors looking for stocks in the Engineering - R and D Services sector might want to consider either M-tron Industries, Inc. (MPTI) or Aecom Technology (ACM). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, M-tron Industries, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Aecom Technology has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that MPTI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ACM has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

MPTI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.82, while ACM has a forward P/E of 19.12. We also note that MPTI has a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. ACM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.63.

Another notable valuation metric for MPTI is its P/B ratio of 4.05. 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, ACM has a P/B of 5.39.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MPTI's Value grade of B and ACM's Value grade of C.

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

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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