Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) and Air Liquide (AIQUY). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Akzo Nobel NV has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Air Liquide has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AKZOY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

AKZOY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.62, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 27.36. We also note that AKZOY has a PEG ratio of 0.69. 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. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.43.

Another notable valuation metric for AKZOY is its P/B ratio of 2.28. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, AIQUY has a P/B of 3.79.

Based on these metrics and many more, AKZOY holds a Value grade of A, while AIQUY has a Value grade of D.

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

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