Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) and Air Liquide (AIQUY). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Akzo Nobel NV and Air Liquide are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that AKZOY'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.

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.

AKZOY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.66, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 25.69. We also note that AKZOY has a PEG ratio of 0.64. 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. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.77.

Another notable valuation metric for AKZOY is its P/B ratio of 1.93. 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, AIQUY has a P/B of 3.65.

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

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

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Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Air Liquide (AIQUY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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