Investors interested in Oil and Gas – Exploration and Production – United States stocks are likely familiar with CNX Resources Corporation. (CNX) and Diamondback Energy (FANG). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, CNX Resources Corporation. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Diamondback Energy has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CNX has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

CNX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.53, while FANG has a forward P/E of 10.65. We also note that CNX has a PEG ratio of 0.31. 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. FANG currently has a PEG ratio of 0.49.

Another notable valuation metric for CNX is its P/B ratio of 0.70. 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, FANG has a P/B of 1.67.

These metrics, and several others, help CNX earn a Value grade of A, while FANG has been given a Value grade of C.

CNX has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than FANG, so it seems like value investors will conclude that CNX is the superior option right now.

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