BMY Vs. AZN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors with an interest in Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks have likely encountered both Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Astrazeneca (LON:AZN). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Bristol-Myers Squibb is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Astrazeneca has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that BMY has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

BMY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.15, while AZN has a forward P/E of 22.90. We also note that BMY has a PEG ratio of 1.42. 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. AZN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.20.

Another notable valuation metric for BMY is its P/B ratio of 6.04. 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, AZN has a P/B of 7.18.

These metrics, and several others, help BMY earn a Value grade of B, while AZN has been given a Value grade of C.

BMY is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that BMY is likely the superior value option right now.