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GOLD or AEM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Mining - Gold stocks have likely encountered both Barrick Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM - Free Report) . 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Barrick Gold has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Agnico Eagle Mines 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 GOLD is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

GOLD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.32, while AEM has a forward P/E of 22.17. We also note that GOLD has a PEG ratio of 0.50. 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. AEM currently has a PEG ratio of 0.79.

Another notable valuation metric for GOLD is its P/B ratio of 1.12. 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, AEM has a P/B of 2.11.

These metrics, and several others, help GOLD earn a Value grade of B, while AEM has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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