COUR or NPO: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Technology Services sector have probably already heard of Coursera (COUR) and Enpro (NPO). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Coursera has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Enpro has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that COUR is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

COUR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.34, while NPO has a forward P/E of 35.95. We also note that COUR has a PEG ratio of 0.23. 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. NPO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.40.

Another notable valuation metric for COUR is its P/B ratio of 1.49. 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, NPO has a P/B of 4.44.

Based on these metrics and many more, COUR holds a Value grade of B, while NPO has a Value grade of D.

COUR 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 COUR 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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