Contrasting Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) & Burnham (OTCMKTS:BURCA)

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) and Burnham (OTCMKTS:BURCA) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Nordson has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Burnham has a beta of 0.14, suggesting that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.1% of Nordson shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.5% of Burnham shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Nordson shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Nordson pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Burnham pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Nordson pays out 35.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Burnham pays out -20.1% 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. Nordson has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years. Burnham is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Nordson and Burnham, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordson	0	4	5	0	2.56
Burnham	0	0	0	0	0.00

Nordson presently has a consensus target price of $311.29, indicating a potential upside of 11.74%. Given Nordson’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nordson is more favorable than Burnham.

Profitability

This table compares Nordson and Burnham’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordson	18.19%	20.08%	10.39%
Burnham	-7.96%	11.89%	7.37%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nordson and Burnham”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nordson	$2.79 billion	5.56	$484.47 million	$9.38	29.70
Burnham	$258.11 million	0.35	-$21.45 million	($4.58)	-5.79

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

Summary

Nordson beats Burnham on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nordson

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions. The Industrial Precision Solutions segment provides dispensing, coating, and laminating systems for adhesives, lotions, liquids, and fibers to disposable products and roll goods; automated adhesive dispensing systems used in packaged goods industries; components and systems used in the thermoplastic and biopolymer melt stream; precision agriculture spraying solutions; fluid components, such as nozzles, pumps, and filters; and product assembly systems for use in paper and paperboard converting applications, and manufacturing roll goods. It also offers automated and manual dispensing products and systems for cold materials, container coating, liquid finishing, and powder coating, as well as ultraviolet equipment used primarily in curing and drying operations. The Medical and Fluid Solutions segment offers medical devices, including cannulas, catheters, and medical balloons; single-use plastic components; precision manual and semi-automated dispensers; minimally invasive interventional delivery devices; and plastic molded syringes, cartridges, tips, and fluid connection components. The Advanced Technology Solutions segment provides automated dispensing systems for the attachment, protection, and coating of fluids, as well as related gas plasma treatment systems for cleaning and conditioning surfaces; and bond testing and automated optical, acoustic microscopy, and x-ray inspection systems for use in semiconductor and printed circuit board industries. The company markets its products through direct sales force, as well as distributors and sales representatives. Nordson Corporation was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio.

About Burnham

Burnham Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells boilers and related heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products and accessories for residential, commercial, and industrial applications in the United States and internationally. Its residential hydronic heating products include cast iron, stainless steel, and steel boilers; cast iron and steel heat distribution products; radiators; and warm air furnaces and central air conditioning systems for the residential heating and cooling markets, including units for the manufactured housing industry. The company's commercial and industrial heating products comprise a range of cast iron, stainless steel, fire tube, water tube, copper tube boilers, and water heaters; and boiler room accessories that are used for various applications, such as military bases, multi-unit residential buildings, health care, government, education, and hospital facilities. The company sells its residential products through wholesale distributors to builders, heating contractors, fuel dealers, and utilities for resale to end-use customers; and commercial products primarily through independent sales representatives, directly to contractors, or end users. Burnham Holdings, Inc. is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.