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EXC vs. IDA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Utility - Electric Power sector have probably already heard of Exelon (EXC - Free Report) and IdaCorp (IDA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Exelon has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while IdaCorp has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that EXC's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

EXC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.56, while IDA has a forward P/E of 19.30. We also note that EXC has a PEG ratio of 2.93. 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. IDA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.49.

Another notable valuation metric for EXC is its P/B ratio of 1.55. 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, IDA has a P/B of 1.73.

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

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


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