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

Investors interested in Schools stocks are likely familiar with TAL Education (TAL) and Laureate Education (LAUR). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, TAL Education has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Laureate Education has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that TAL has an improving earnings 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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

TAL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.48, while LAUR has a forward P/E of 18.13. We also note that TAL has a PEG ratio of 0.77. 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. LAUR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.21.

Another notable valuation metric for TAL is its P/B ratio of 1.65. 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, LAUR has a P/B of 4.63.

These metrics, and several others, help TAL earn a Value grade of A, while LAUR has been given a Value grade of C.

TAL stands above LAUR thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that TAL is the superior value option right now.

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

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