Investors with an interest in Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare stocks have likely encountered both Addus HomeCare (ADUS) and U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
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.
Addus HomeCare and U.S. Physical Therapy are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ADUS is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
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.
Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.
ADUS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.01, while USPH has a forward P/E of 29.92. We also note that ADUS has a PEG ratio of 1.39. 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. USPH currently has a PEG ratio of 3.61.
Another notable valuation metric for ADUS is its P/B ratio of 1.79. 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, USPH has a P/B of 2.50.
Based on these metrics and many more, ADUS holds a Value grade of A, while USPH has a Value grade of C.
ADUS has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than USPH, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ADUS is the superior option right now.
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Addus HomeCare Corporation (ADUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (USPH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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