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NFG or AESI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States stocks are likely familiar with National Fuel Gas (NFG - Free Report) and Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (AESI - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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.

National Fuel Gas has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that NFG is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

NFG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.97, while AESI has a forward P/E of 16.38. We also note that NFG has a PEG ratio of 1.01. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AESI currently has a PEG ratio of 7.25.

Another notable valuation metric for NFG is its P/B ratio of 2.18. 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, AESI has a P/B of 2.59.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to NFG's Value grade of B and AESI's Value grade of F.

NFG stands above AESI thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that NFG is the superior value option right now.


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