Investors looking for stocks in the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector might want to consider either Ingersoll-Rand (IR) or Flowserve (FLS). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. 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.

Ingersoll-Rand and Flowserve are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings 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.

IR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.78, while FLS has a forward P/E of 32.70. We also note that IR has a PEG ratio of 1.62. 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. FLS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.89.

Another notable valuation metric for IR is its P/B ratio of 3.74. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, FLS has a P/B of 4.42.

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

Both IR and FLS are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that IR is the superior value option right now.

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Ingersoll-Rand PLC (Ireland) (IR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Flowserve Corporation (FLS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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