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LDOS or HWM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Aerospace - Defense sector might want to consider either Leidos (LDOS - Free Report) or Howmet (HWM - 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Leidos and Howmet are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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 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.

LDOS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.78, while HWM has a forward P/E of 38.85. We also note that LDOS has a PEG ratio of 1.73. 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. HWM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.76.

Another notable valuation metric for LDOS is its P/B ratio of 4.01. 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, HWM has a P/B of 11.33.

These metrics, and several others, help LDOS earn a Value grade of A, while HWM has been given a Value grade of D.

Both LDOS and HWM are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that LDOS is the superior value option right now.


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Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) - free report >>

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