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AHCO or ABT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Products sector might want to consider either AdaptHealth Corp. (AHCO - Free Report) or Abbott (ABT - 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 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.

Currently, AdaptHealth Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Abbott has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AHCO is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

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.

AHCO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.26, while ABT has a forward P/E of 25.36. We also note that AHCO has a PEG ratio of 1.02. 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. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.43.

Another notable valuation metric for AHCO is its P/B ratio of 0.79. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ABT has a P/B of 5.65.

Based on these metrics and many more, AHCO holds a Value grade of A, while ABT has a Value grade of C.

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


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