Investors looking for stocks in the Retail - Supermarkets sector might want to consider either Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MAKSY) or Walmart (WMT). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Marks and Spencer Group PLC is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Walmart has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that MAKSY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WMT has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

MAKSY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.78, while WMT has a forward P/E of 36.92. We also note that MAKSY has a PEG ratio of 1.01. 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. WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.68.

Another notable valuation metric for MAKSY is its P/B ratio of 2.73. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, WMT has a P/B of 7.92.

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

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

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Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MAKSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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