Head to Head Comparison: Polar Power (NASDAQ:POLA) & Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Polar Power (NASDAQ:POLA) and Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Polar Power has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Otter Tail has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.1% of Polar Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of Otter Tail shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.8% of Polar Power shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Otter Tail shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Polar Power and Otter Tail”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Polar Power	$6.30 million	1.04	-$9.13 million	($3.14)	-0.57
Otter Tail	$1.30 billion	2.86	$275.89 million	$6.67	13.32

Otter Tail has higher revenue and earnings than Polar Power. Polar Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Otter Tail, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Polar Power and Otter Tail, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Polar Power	1	0	0	0	1.00
Otter Tail	1	3	1	0	2.00

Otter Tail has a consensus target price of $86.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.21%. Given Otter Tail’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Otter Tail is more favorable than Polar Power.

Profitability

This table compares Polar Power and Otter Tail’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Polar Power	-127.53%	-259.19%	-63.38%
Otter Tail	21.34%	15.21%	7.13%

Summary

Otter Tail beats Polar Power on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Polar Power

Polar Power, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells direct current (DC) power generators, renewable energy, and cooling systems in the United States and internationally. The company offers DC base power systems, DC hybrid power systems, DC solar hybrid power systems, and mobile power systems. Its DC power systems are available in diesel, natural gas, LPG/propane, and renewable fuel formats. It serves customers in the telecommunications, military, commercial, industrial, and marine markets. In addition, the company sells its products through a direct sales force, and independent service providers and dealers. The company was formerly known as Polar Products, Inc. and changed its name to Polar Power, Inc. in October 1991. Polar Power, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is based in Gardena, California.

About Otter Tail

Otter Tail Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in electric utility, manufacturing, and plastic pipe businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric, Manufacturing, and Plastics. The Electric segment produces, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and operates as a participant in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets. This segment generates electricity through coal, fuel oil, solar, wind, and natural gas. It serves approximately residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The Manufacturing segment engages in the contract machining, metal parts stamping, fabrication and painting, production of plastic thermoformed horticultural containers, life science and industrial packaging, and material handling components and extruded raw material stock for the recreational vehicle, lawn and garden, agricultural, construction, and industrial and energy equipment end markets. The Plastics segment manufactures polyvinyl chloride pipes for municipal water, rural water, wastewater, storm drainage and water reclamation system, and other uses for customers in the horticulture, medical and life sciences, industrial, recreation, and electronics industries. This segment markets its products to wholesalers and distributors through independent sales representatives, company salespersons, and customer service representatives. The company was formerly known as Otter Tail Power Company and changed its name to Otter Tail Corporation in 2001. Otter Tail Corporation was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.