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NI or WEC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Utility - Electric Power stocks have likely encountered both NiSource (NI) and WEC Energy Group (WEC). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, NiSource is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while WEC Energy Group has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that NI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WEC has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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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.

NI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.08, while WEC has a forward P/E of 20.98. We also note that NI has a PEG ratio of 2.66. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. WEC currently has a PEG ratio of 3.60.

Another notable valuation metric for NI is its P/B ratio of 1.81. 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, WEC has a P/B of 2.63.

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

NI sticks out from WEC in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that NI is the better option right now.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

NiSource, Inc (NI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research