Comparing Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) & Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS)

Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS) and Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Cooper-Standard and Gentex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cooper-Standard	-2.03%	N/A	-2.31%
Gentex	15.15%	16.67%	14.06%

Volatility & Risk

Cooper-Standard has a beta of 2.05, indicating that its share price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gentex has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cooper-Standard and Gentex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cooper-Standard	$2.74 billion	0.13	-$4.16 million	($3.14)	-6.60
Gentex	$2.53 billion	1.70	$384.84 million	$1.86	10.89

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

69.1% of Cooper-Standard shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.8% of Gentex shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.2% of Cooper-Standard shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Gentex shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Cooper-Standard and Gentex, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cooper-Standard	2	1	1	0	1.75
Gentex	1	6	1	0	2.00

Cooper-Standard presently has a consensus target price of $37.83, suggesting a potential upside of 82.64%. Gentex has a consensus target price of $23.08, suggesting a potential upside of 13.94%. Given Cooper-Standard’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Cooper-Standard is more favorable than Gentex.

Summary

Gentex beats Cooper-Standard on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cooper-Standard

Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary, Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., manufactures and sells sealing, fuel and brake delivery, and fluid transfer systems in the United States, Mexico, China, Poland, Canada, Germany, France, and internationally. The company offers sealing systems, including dynamic seals, static seals, encapsulated glasses, textured surfaces with cloth appearance, obstacle detection sensor systems, FlushSeal systems, variable extrusions, specialty sealing products, stainless steel trims, and frameless systems. It also provides fuel and brake delivery systems comprising chassis and tank fuel lines and bundles, metallic brake lines and bundles, quick connects, low oligomer multi-layer convoluted tubes, brake jounce lines, direct injection and port fuel rails, MagAlloy break tube coating, and ArmorTube brake tube coating. In addition, the company offers fluid transfer systems, such as heater/coolant hoses, turbo charger hoses, charged air cooler ducts/assemblies, diesel particulate filter lines, secondary air hoses, degas tanks and deaerators, brake and clutch hoses, air intake and discharge systems, transmission oil cooling hoses, high temperature MLTs, and multilayer tubing for glycol thermal management. Its products are primarily used in passenger vehicles and light trucks that are manufactured by automotive original equipment manufacturers and replacement markets. Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Northville, Michigan.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers. It also provides variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators. In addition, the company offers photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling alarms, and bells and speakers used in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential buildings, as well as researches and develops nanofiber chemical sensing products. It sells its fire protection products directly, as well as through sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations to fire protection and security product distributors, electrical wholesale houses, and original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems. Gentex Corporation was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.