ADUS or USPH: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare sector have probably already heard of Addus HomeCare (ADUS) and U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH). 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, both Addus HomeCare and U.S. Physical Therapy are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

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.

ADUS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 29.67, while USPH has a forward P/E of 39.63. We also note that ADUS has a PEG ratio of 1.91. 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. USPH currently has a PEG ratio of 3.52.

Another notable valuation metric for ADUS is its P/B ratio of 3.17. 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, USPH has a P/B of 6.63.

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

Both ADUS and USPH are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that ADUS is the superior value option right now.

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Addus HomeCare Corporation (ADUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (USPH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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