CCEP Or CCHGY: Which Is The Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Beverages - Soft drinks stocks are likely familiar with Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) European (CCEP) and COCA-COLA HBC (CCHGY). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great 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.

Right now, Coca-Cola European is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while COCA-COLA HBC has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CCEP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

CCEP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.39, while CCHGY has a forward P/E of 20.48. We also note that CCEP has a PEG ratio of 1.88. 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. CCHGY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.56.

Another notable valuation metric for CCEP is its P/B ratio of 2.89. 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, CCHGY has a P/B of 3.51.

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

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