USFD vs. CELH: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in Food - Miscellaneous stocks are likely familiar with US Foods (USFD) and Celsius Holdings Inc. (CELH). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

US Foods and Celsius Holdings Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that USFD 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 analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

USFD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.86, while CELH has a forward P/E of 31.58. We also note that USFD has a PEG ratio of 1.10. 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. CELH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.63.

Another notable valuation metric for USFD is its P/B ratio of 4.94. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CELH has a P/B of 10.75.

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

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