AVTR vs. ICLR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Medical Services sector have probably already heard of Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) and Icon PLC (ICLR). 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Avantor, Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Icon PLC has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that AVTR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ICLR has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

AVTR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.53, while ICLR has a forward P/E of 15.63. We also note that AVTR has a PEG ratio of 5.93. 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. ICLR currently has a PEG ratio of 7.24.

Another notable valuation metric for AVTR is its P/B ratio of 1.3. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ICLR has a P/B of 1.37.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AVTR's Value grade of B and ICLR's Value grade of C.

AVTR 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 AVTR 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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