Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Electric Power sector might want to consider either NRG Energy (NRG) or Vistra Corp. (VST). 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.
NRG Energy has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Vistra Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that NRG has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.
NRG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.81, while VST has a forward P/E of 30.57. We also note that NRG has a PEG ratio of 1.31. 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. VST currently has a PEG ratio of 1.76.
Another notable valuation metric for NRG is its P/B ratio of 12.31. 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, VST has a P/B of 21.38.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to NRG's Value grade of B and VST's Value grade of D.
NRG stands above VST thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that NRG is the superior value option right now.
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