ZIM or KEX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Transportation - Shipping stocks have likely encountered both ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) and Kirby (KEX). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Kirby has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that ZIM has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

ZIM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.64, while KEX has a forward P/E of 15.84. We also note that ZIM has a PEG ratio of 0.22. 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. KEX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.52.

Another notable valuation metric for ZIM is its P/B ratio of 0.56. 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, KEX has a P/B of 1.84.

Based on these metrics and many more, ZIM holds a Value grade of A, while KEX has a Value grade of C.

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

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ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Kirby Corporation (KEX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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