RBC Bearings (NYSE:RBC) and Spirax Group (OTCMKTS:SPXSY) Critical Survey

Spirax Group (OTCMKTS:SPXSY) and RBC Bearings (NYSE:RBC) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Spirax Group has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RBC Bearings has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.4% of Spirax Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of RBC Bearings shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Spirax Group and RBC Bearings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spirax Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
RBC Bearings	15.03%	10.47%	6.67%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Spirax Group and RBC Bearings, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spirax Group	0	1	0	1	3.00
RBC Bearings	0	2	6	0	2.75

RBC Bearings has a consensus target price of $459.17, indicating a potential upside of 1.13%. Given RBC Bearings’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe RBC Bearings is more favorable than Spirax Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spirax Group and RBC Bearings”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spirax Group	$2.13 billion	6.34	$244.34 million	N/A	N/A
RBC Bearings	$1.64 billion	8.77	$246.20 million	$8.19	55.44

RBC Bearings has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Spirax Group.

Summary

RBC Bearings beats Spirax Group on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spirax Group

Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc provides engineered solutions it operates through three segments: Steam Thermal Solutions; Electric Thermal Solutions; and Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions. The company offers industrial and commercial steam systems, including condensate management, controls, and thermal energy management products and solutions for heating, curing, cooking, drying, cleaning, sterilizing, space heating, humidifying, vacuum packing, and producing hot water; electrical process heating and temperature management solutions, such as industrial heaters and systems, heat tracing, and various component technologies for industrial processes; and peristaltic and niche pumps and associated fluid path technologies, including tubing, and specialty filling systems and products for single-use applications. It serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology, food, beverage, oil, gas, chemical, power generation, healthcare, water and wastewater, buildings, mining and precious metal processing, semiconductor, and transport sectors, as well as original equipment manufacturers. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors. It operates in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; the Asia Pacific; and the Americas. The company was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Cheltenham, the United Kingdom.

About RBC Bearings

RBC Bearings Incorporated manufactures and markets engineered precision bearings, components, and systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Aerospace/Defense and Industrial. The company produces plain bearings with self-lubricating or metal-to-metal designs, including rod end bearings, spherical plain bearings, and journal bearings; roller bearings, such as tapered roller bearings, needle roller bearings, and needle bearing track rollers and cam followers, which are anti-friction products that are used in industrial applications and military aircraft platforms; and ball bearings include high precision aerospace, airframe control, thin section, and industrial ball bearings that utilize high precision ball elements to reduce friction in high-speed applications. In addition, it offers mounted bearing products include mounted ball bearings, mounted roller bearings, and mounted plain bearings; and enclosed gearing product lines, including quantis gearmotor, torque arm, tigear, magnagear and maxum, and controlled start transmission. Further, the company's power transmission components include mechanical drive components, couplings, and conveyor components; engineered hydraulics and valves for aircraft and submarine applications, and aerospace and defense aftermarket services; fasteners; precision mechanical components, which are used in various general industrial applications; and machine tool collets that are used for holding circulars or rod-like pieces. It serves automotive, tool holding, agricultural and semiconductor machinery, commercial and defense aerospace, ground defense, construction and mining, oil and natural resource extraction, heavy truck, marine, rail and train, material handling, food and beverage, packaging and canning, wind, and general industrial markets through its direct sales force, and a network of industrial and aerospace distributors. The company was founded in 1919 and is based in Oxford, Connecticut.