GBX vs. WAB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in stocks from the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing sector have probably already heard of Greenbrier Companies (GBX) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Greenbrier Companies and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that GBX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WAB has recently. 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

GBX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.68, while WAB has a forward P/E of 26.19. We also note that GBX has a PEG ratio of 0.54. 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. WAB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.55.

Another notable valuation metric for GBX 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, WAB has a P/B of 3.33.

Based on these metrics and many more, GBX holds a Value grade of A, while WAB has a Value grade of D.

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

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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