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AFYA vs. LOPE: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Schools sector might want to consider either Afya (AFYA - Free Report) or Grand Canyon Education (LOPE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Afya has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Grand Canyon Education has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AFYA 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 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.

AFYA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.99, while LOPE has a forward P/E of 19.27. We also note that AFYA has a PEG ratio of 0.50. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. LOPE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.28.

Another notable valuation metric for AFYA is its P/B ratio of 1.79. 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, LOPE has a P/B of 6.14.

These metrics, and several others, help AFYA earn a Value grade of A, while LOPE has been given a Value grade of C.

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

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