INCY or TECH: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with Incyte (INCY) and Techne (TECH). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

Right now, Incyte is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Techne has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that INCY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

INCY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 34.90, while TECH has a forward P/E of 35.94. We also note that INCY has a PEG ratio of 2.67. 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. TECH currently has a PEG ratio of 7.53.

Another notable valuation metric for INCY is its P/B ratio of 3.94. 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, TECH has a P/B of 5.38.

These metrics, and several others, help INCY earn a Value grade of B, while TECH has been given a Value grade of D.

INCY 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 INCY is likely the superior value option right now.

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

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