Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) and Prothena (PRTA). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Sarepta Therapeutics and Prothena are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SRPT likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PRTA has recently. 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.
SRPT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 3.58, while PRTA has a forward P/E of 61.61. We also note that SRPT has a PEG ratio of 0.15. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. PRTA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.77.
Another notable valuation metric for SRPT is its P/B ratio of 1.21. 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, PRTA has a P/B of 1.64.
Based on these metrics and many more, SRPT holds a Value grade of A, while PRTA has a Value grade of D.
SRPT has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than PRTA, so it seems like value investors will conclude that SRPT is the superior option right now.
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Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (SRPT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Prothena Corporation plc (PRTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).