Investors interested in stocks from the Engineering - R and D Services sector have probably already heard of Babcock International Group PLC (BCKIY) and Sterling Infrastructure (STRL). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 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.

Babcock International Group PLC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Sterling Infrastructure has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that BCKIY has an improving earnings outlook. 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.

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.

BCKIY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.07, while STRL has a forward P/E of 29.13. We also note that BCKIY has a PEG ratio of 0.68. 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. STRL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.94.

Another notable valuation metric for BCKIY is its P/B ratio of 9.2. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, STRL has a P/B of 9.22.

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

BCKIY sticks out from STRL in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BCKIY is the better option right now.

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Babcock International Group PLC (BCKIY):Free Stock Analysis Report

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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