BCC Or WY: Which Is The Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Building Products - Wood stocks have likely encountered both Boise Cascade (BCC) and Weyerhaeuser (WY). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Boise Cascade has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Weyerhaeuser has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BCC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WY has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

BCC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.09, while WY has a forward P/E of 45.26. We also note that BCC has a PEG ratio of 2.03. 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. WY currently has a PEG ratio of 9.05.

Another notable valuation metric for BCC is its P/B ratio of 1.69. 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, WY has a P/B of 2.19.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BCC's Value grade of A and WY's Value grade of D.

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