ZTO or CHRW: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Transportation - Services stocks have likely encountered both ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (ZTO) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW). 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, ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while C.H. Robinson Worldwide 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 ZTO is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

ZTO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.38, while CHRW has a forward P/E of 28.60. We also note that ZTO has a PEG ratio of 1.23. 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. CHRW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.78.

Another notable valuation metric for ZTO is its P/B ratio of 1.5. 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, CHRW has a P/B of 10.81.

Based on these metrics and many more, ZTO holds a Value grade of B, while CHRW has a Value grade of D.

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

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ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (ZTO): Free Stock Analysis Report

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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