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GM or PII: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Automotive - Domestic sector might want to consider either General Motors (GM - Free Report) or Polaris Inc (PII - 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.

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.

General Motors and Polaris Inc are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that GM has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

GM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.10, while PII has a forward P/E of 21.13. We also note that GM has a PEG ratio of 0.40. 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. PII currently has a PEG ratio of 7.11.

Another notable valuation metric for GM is its P/B ratio of 0.77. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, PII has a P/B of 2.95.

Based on these metrics and many more, GM holds a Value grade of A, while PII has a Value grade of D.

GM 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 GM is likely the superior value option right now.


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