SJW or AWR: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Utility - Water Supply sector have probably already heard of SJW (SJW) and American States Water (AWR). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.Currently, SJW has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while American States Water has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that SJW has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.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.SJW currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.51, while AWR has a forward P/E of 27.59. We also note that SJW has a PEG ratio of 3.22. 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. AWR currently has a PEG ratio of 6.77.Another notable valuation metric for SJW is its P/B ratio of 1.34. 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, AWR has a P/B of 3.54.These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SJW's Value grade of B and AWR's Value grade of F.SJW has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AWR, so it seems like value investors will conclude that SJW is the superior option right now.Free Report: 5 Clean Energy Stocks with Massive UpsideEnergy is the backbone of our economy. It’s a multi-trillion dollar industry that has created some of the world’s largest and most profitable companies.Now state-of-the-art technology is paving the way for clean energy sources to overtake “old-fashioned” fossil fuels. Trillions of dollars are already pouring into clean energy initiatives, from solar power to hydrogen fuel cells.Emerging leaders from this space could be some of the most exciting stocks in your portfolio.Download Nuclear to Solar: 5 Stocks Powering the Future to see Zacks’ top picks free today.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SJW Group (SJW): Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks