Critical Comparison: Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) versus Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Manitowoc and Keyence, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manitowoc	2	1	0	0	1.33
Keyence	0	1	2	1	3.00

Manitowoc presently has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential downside of 36.57%. Given Manitowoc’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Manitowoc is more favorable than Keyence.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.7% of Manitowoc shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Manitowoc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manitowoc	$2.24 billion	0.36	$7.20 million	$0.55	40.13
Keyence	$7.31 billion	16.87	$2.78 billion	$3.60	141.20

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

Risk & Volatility

Manitowoc has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Keyence has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manitowoc	0.87%	3.86%	1.43%
Keyence	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Keyence beats Manitowoc on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Manitowoc

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. provides engineered lifting solutions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It designs, manufactures, and distributes crawler-mounted lattice-boom cranes under the Manitowoc brand; a line of top-slewing and self-erecting tower cranes under the Potain brand; mobile hydraulic cranes under the Grove, Shuttlelift, and National Crane brands; and hydraulic boom trucks under the National Crane brand. The company also provides aftermarket services, such as sale of parts and accessories, field service work, routine maintenance services, technical support, erection and decommissioning services, crane and component remanufacturing, training, and telematics services. Its crane products are used in various applications, including energy production/distribution and utilities; petrochemical and industrial; infrastructure, such as road, bridge, and airport construction; and commercial and residential construction. The company serves a range of customers, including dealers, rental companies, contractors, and government entities in the petrochemical, industrial, commercial construction, power and utilities, infrastructure, and residential construction end markets. The Manitowoc Company, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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.