Investors looking for stocks in the Security and Safety Services sector might want to consider either Assa Abloy AB (ASAZY) or Cadre Holdings, Inc. (CDRE). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Assa Abloy AB has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cadre Holdings, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that ASAZY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

ASAZY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.02, while CDRE has a forward P/E of 25.72. We also note that ASAZY has a PEG ratio of 1.37. 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. CDRE currently has a PEG ratio of 1.59.

Another notable valuation metric for ASAZY is its P/B ratio of 3.99. 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, CDRE has a P/B of 4.22.

Based on these metrics and many more, ASAZY holds a Value grade of B, while CDRE has a Value grade of C.

ASAZY 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 ASAZY is likely the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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