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15 July
HPE or IBM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Computer - Integrated Systems sector have probably already heard of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and IBM (IBM). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while IBM has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that HPE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

HPE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.08, while IBM has a forward P/E of 18.47. We also note that HPE has a PEG ratio of 2.54. 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. IBM currently has a PEG ratio of 4.51.

Another notable valuation metric for HPE is its P/B ratio of 1.27. 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, IBM has a P/B of 7.20.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HPE's Value grade of A and IBM's Value grade of C.

HPE has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than IBM, so it seems like value investors will conclude that HPE is the superior option right now.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.