LAUR vs. UTI: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors looking for stocks in the Schools sector might want to consider either Laureate Education (LAUR) or Universal Technical Institute (UTI). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Laureate Education and Universal Technical Institute are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that LAUR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than UTI has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

LAUR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.89, while UTI has a forward P/E of 54.37. We also note that LAUR has a PEG ratio of 1.19. 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. UTI currently has a PEG ratio of 3.62.

Another notable valuation metric for LAUR is its P/B ratio of 4.62. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, UTI has a P/B of 6.69.

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

LAUR 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 LAUR is likely the superior value option right now.

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

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