Kion Group (OTCMKTS:KIGRY) and Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) Critical Review

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) and Kion Group (OTCMKTS:KIGRY) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Hillenbrand and Kion Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hillenbrand	1.61%	12.69%	3.71%
Kion Group	2.48%	4.59%	1.50%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hillenbrand and Kion Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hillenbrand	0	5	0	0	2.00
Kion Group	0	2	1	1	2.75

Hillenbrand currently has a consensus price target of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.49%. Given Hillenbrand’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hillenbrand is more favorable than Kion Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.1% of Hillenbrand shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Hillenbrand shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Hillenbrand pays an annual dividend of $0.91 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Kion Group pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Hillenbrand pays out 149.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kion Group pays out 24.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hillenbrand has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Hillenbrand is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hillenbrand and Kion Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hillenbrand	$2.67 billion	0.84	$43.10 million	$0.61	52.20
Kion Group	$12.45 billion	0.77	$389.88 million	$0.58	31.29

Kion Group has higher revenue and earnings than Hillenbrand. Kion Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hillenbrand, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Hillenbrand has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kion Group has a beta of 2.17, suggesting that its share price is 117% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hillenbrand beats Kion Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand, Inc. operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials. The Molding Technology Solutions segment offers injection molding and extrusion equipment; hot runner systems; process control systems; mold bases and components; maintenance and repair services; and aftermarket parts and service for various industries, including automotive, consumer goods, medical, packaging, construction, and electronics. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana.

About Kion Group

KION GROUP AG provides industrial trucks and supply chain solutions worldwide. The company operates in Industrial Trucks & Services and Supply Chain Solutions segments. It offers forklift trucks, counterbalance trucks with electric drive and internal combustion engine, ride-on and hand-operated warehouse trucks, automated guided vehicle systems (AGVs), and towing vehicles under the Linde, STILL, Baoli, Fenwick, and OM brands. The company also manufactures and sells spare parts; leases and rents industrial trucks and related items; and offers maintenance and repair, and fleet management services, as well as provides finance solutions. In addition, it provides integrated technology and software solutions, including automated guided vehicle systems, palletizers, storage and picking equipment, automated storage and retrieval systems, sorters, and conveyors under the Dematic brand. The company was formerly known as KION Holding 1 GmbH. KION GROUP AG was founded in 2006 and is based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.