FLS or NDSN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector might want to consider either Flowserve FLS or Nordson NDSN. 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.

Flowserve has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nordson has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now. This means that FLS's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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.

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.

FLS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.09, while NDSN has a forward P/E of 24.36. We also note that FLS has a PEG ratio of 1.24. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. NDSN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.87.

Another notable valuation metric for FLS is its P/B ratio of 3.17. 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, NDSN has a P/B of 4.76.

These metrics, and several others, help FLS earn a Value grade of B, while NDSN has been given a Value grade of F.

FLS has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than NDSN, so it seems like value investors will conclude that FLS is the superior option right now.

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