Head to Head Survey: Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF) & Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB)

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) and Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Trimble has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Keyence has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Trimble and Keyence, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Trimble	0	1	9	1	3.00
Keyence	0	1	0	0	2.00

Trimble presently has a consensus target price of $93.50, suggesting a potential upside of 39.82%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than Keyence.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Trimble and Keyence”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Trimble	$3.59 billion	4.36	$424.00 million	$1.75	38.21
Keyence	$7.06 billion	N/A	$2.66 billion	N/A	N/A

Keyence has higher revenue and earnings than Trimble.

Profitability

This table compares Trimble and Keyence’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Trimble	11.82%	11.18%	7.00%
Keyence	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Trimble beats Keyence on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.

About Keyence

Keyence Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of factory automation solutions in Japan, China, the United States, and internationally. The company offers photoelectric, fiber optic, laser, positioning, vision, specific solution, and inductive proximity sensors, as well as network communication units. It also provides measurement sensors, such as laser displacement and profiler, optical/laser micrometer, inductive displacement sensor, 3D interference measurement, spectral interference displacement, and contact displacement/LVDT sensors; and measurement systems, including optical comparators, 3D scanners, multisensor measurement, and CMM/laser trackers. In addition, the company provides safety products comprising safety laser scanners, light curtains, interlock switches, and controllers; and pressure, flow, level, and temperature sensors for monitoring equipment processes. Further, it offers static eliminators/ionizers and electrostatic sensors, which protect workers, machinery, and products from the damaging effects of electrostatic charge; vision systems and sensors; and programmable logic controllers, servo motor and system, and other controls that are used for machine control applications. Additionally, the company provides barcode and handheld scanners; laser marking systems/laser markers, UV laser coder, and industrial continuous inkjet printers; digital, 3D surface profilers, elemental analyzers, optical profilometers, and fluorescence microscopes; data loggers; and mobile/ handheld computers. It serves customers in automotive, semiconductors/LCDs, electronic devices, food/pharmaceutical, medical technology, logistics, metals, plastics, and films/sheets industries. Keyence Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.