Financial Analysis: Assa Abloy (OTCMKTS:ASAZY) vs. Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE)

Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE) and Assa Abloy (OTCMKTS:ASAZY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.7% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lakeland Industries and Assa Abloy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Industries	$192.65 million	0.51	-$25.31 million	($2.58)	-3.88
Assa Abloy	$15.58 billion	2.74	$1.50 billion	$0.74	25.88

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

Risk & Volatility

Lakeland Industries has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assa Abloy has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Lakeland Industries and Assa Abloy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Industries	1	1	3	0	2.40
Assa Abloy	0	3	2	2	2.86

Lakeland Industries presently has a consensus price target of $15.20, indicating a potential upside of 51.85%. Given Lakeland Industries’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lakeland Industries is more favorable than Assa Abloy.

Profitability

This table compares Lakeland Industries and Assa Abloy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Industries	-13.14%	-9.57%	-6.06%
Assa Abloy	9.74%	14.78%	6.99%

Summary

Assa Abloy beats Lakeland Industries on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lakeland Industries

Lakeland Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market worldwide. It offers firefighting and heat protective apparel to protect against fire; high-end chemical protective suits to provide protection from highly concentrated, toxic and/or lethal chemicals, and biological toxins; and limited use/disposable protective clothing, such as coveralls, laboratory coats, shirts, pants, hoods, aprons, sleeves, arm guards, caps, and smocks. The company provides durable woven garments, including electrostatic dissipative apparel used in electronics clean rooms; flame resistant meta aramid, para aramid, and FR cotton coveralls/pants/jackets used in petrochemical, refining operations, and electrical utilities; FR fabrics; and cotton and polycotton coveralls, lab coats, pants, and shirts. In addition, it provides high visibility clothing comprising reflective apparel, including vests, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, coats, raingear, jumpsuits, hats, and gloves; and gloves and sleeves that are used in the automotive, glass, and metal fabrication industries. The company sells its products to a network of safety and industrial supply distributors through in-house sales teams, customer service group, and independent sales representatives. It serves end users, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories, and the utilities industry; and federal, state, and local governmental agencies and departments. Lakeland Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.

About Assa Abloy

ASSA ABLOY AB (publ) provides door opening and access products, solutions, and services for the institutional, commercial, and residential markets in Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Oceania. The company provides digital access solutions, such as electronic access control ecosystem, wireless solutions, electronic key solutions, standalone access solutions, and wired solutions; swing, revolving, and sliding doors; mechanical products, including hinges, lever handles, mortise lockcases, euro profile cylinders, panic exit devices, door closers, floor spring, and general hardware; and doors. It offers Openings Studio, a building information modeling software ecosystem is collaboration tool for designing, documenting, and managing openings. The company provides its products primarily under the ASSA ABLOY, Yale, and HID brands. It sells its products through distributors and wholesalers. The company serves aviation, education, distribution and logistics, entertainment and public facility, finance and banking, government and military, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, mining, office and enterprise, homes and residence, retail, shipyards, and transportation industries. ASSA ABLOY AB (publ) was incorporated in 1954 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.