Investors with an interest in Building Products - Miscellaneous stocks have likely encountered both Owens Corning (OC) and James Hardie (JHX). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Owens Corning has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while James Hardie has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that OC 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 also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

OC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.25, while JHX has a forward P/E of 23.81. We also note that OC has a PEG ratio of 1.95. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. JHX currently has a PEG ratio of 4.79.

Another notable valuation metric for OC is its P/B ratio of 2.73. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, JHX has a P/B of 7.24.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to OC's Value grade of A and JHX's Value grade of D.

OC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that OC is likely the superior value option right now.

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