NESR vs. FET: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Oil and Gas - Mechanical and and Equipment sector have probably already heard of National Energy Services Reunited (NESR) and Forum Energy Technologies (FET). 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, National Energy Services Reunited has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Forum Energy Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that NESR 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 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.

NESR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.23, while FET has a forward P/E of 43.62. We also note that NESR has a PEG ratio of 0.62. 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. FET currently has a PEG ratio of 5.45.

Another notable valuation metric for NESR is its P/B ratio of 2.28. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, FET has a P/B of 2.3.

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

NESR has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than FET, so it seems like value investors will conclude that NESR is the superior option right now.