Analyzing Ralliant (NYSE:RAL) and Acorn Energy (NASDAQ:ACFN)

Ralliant (NYSE:RAL) and Acorn Energy (NASDAQ:ACFN) are both technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ralliant and Acorn Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ralliant	0	5	7	0	2.58
Acorn Energy	0	1	0	0	2.00

Ralliant presently has a consensus target price of $77.40, suggesting a potential upside of 10.88%. Given Ralliant’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ralliant is more favorable than Acorn Energy.

Volatility & Risk

Ralliant has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acorn Energy has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ralliant pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Acorn Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Ralliant pays out -1.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acorn Energy pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ralliant and Acorn Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ralliant	$2.07 billion	3.73	-$1.22 billion	($10.85)	-6.43
Acorn Energy	$9.57 million	4.94	$2.51 million	$0.61	30.89

Acorn Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ralliant. Ralliant is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acorn Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ralliant and Acorn Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ralliant	-56.38%	14.97%	6.99%
Acorn Energy	16.12%	10.06%	6.32%

Summary

Ralliant beats Acorn Energy on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ralliant

Ralliant Corporation is a provider of precision technologies which specializes in designing, developing, manufacturing and servicing precision instruments and engineered products. Ralliant Corporation is based in RALEIGH, N.C.

About Acorn Energy

Acorn Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and markets wireless remote monitoring and control systems for various markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Power Generation (PG) Monitoring and Cathodic Protection (CP) Monitoring. The PG segment provides wireless remote monitoring and control systems, and services for critical assets, which include stand-by power generators, compressors, pumps, pumpjacks, light towers, turbines, and other industrial equipment; and Internet of Things applications. The CP segment offers remote monitoring of cathodic protection systems on gas pipelines for gas utilities and pipeline companies. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.