Investors with an interest in Chemical - Specialty stocks have likely encountered both Israel Chemicals (ICL) and Novozymes AS (NVZMY). 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 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.

Israel Chemicals has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Novozymes AS 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 ICL has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

ICL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.35, while NVZMY has a forward P/E of 39.92. We also note that ICL has a PEG ratio of 0.67. 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. NVZMY currently has a PEG ratio of 8.93.

Another notable valuation metric for ICL is its P/B ratio of 2.41. 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, NVZMY has a P/B of 9.06.

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

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

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
ICL Group Ltd (ICL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Novozymes AS (NVZMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research