Investors looking for stocks in the Containers - Paper and Packaging sector might want to consider either Sonoco (SON) or Packaging Corp. (PKG). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Sonoco has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Packaging Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that SON 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.

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.

SON currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.93, while PKG has a forward P/E of 20.42. We also note that SON has a PEG ratio of 0.26. 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. PKG currently has a PEG ratio of 2.45.

Another notable valuation metric for SON is its P/B ratio of 2.06. 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, PKG has a P/B of 4.35.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SON's Value grade of A and PKG's Value grade of D.

SON is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that SON is likely the superior value option right now.

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Sonoco Products Company (SON) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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