Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) and HP (NYSE:HPQ) Financial Contrast

Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) and HP (NYSE:HPQ) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Ricoh pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. HP pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Ricoh pays out 16.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HP pays out 44.3% 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. HP has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. HP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ricoh and HP, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ricoh	0	0	0	0	0.00
HP	5	8	0	2	1.93

HP has a consensus price target of $23.33, indicating a potential downside of 22.26%. Given HP’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HP is more favorable than Ricoh.

Risk & Volatility

Ricoh has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HP has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ricoh and HP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ricoh	3.10%	6.98%	3.24%
HP	4.45%	-581.36%	7.55%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ricoh	$17.33 billion	0.31	$367.42 million	$0.94	10.01
HP	$55.30 billion	0.50	$2.53 billion	$2.71	11.08

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.5% of HP shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of HP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

HP beats Ricoh on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ricoh

Ricoh Company, Ltd. provides office, commercial printing, and related solutions worldwide. It operates through Digital services, Digital Products, Graphic Communications, Industrial Solutions, and Other segments. The company sells multifunctional printers (MFPs), laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machines, scanners, personal computers, servers, network equipment, related parts and supplies, services, and support and service and solutions related to documents. It also offers production and OEM services for MFPs, laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machine, scanners, network equipment, and related parts and supplies. In addition, the company produces and sells cut sheet printers, continuous feed printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, related parts and supplies, services, and support and software. Further, it produces and sells thermal paper and media products, industrial optical components/modules, and electronic components and precision mechanical components, as well as offers digital cameras, 360°cameras, and environment and healthcare products. The company was formerly known as Riken Optical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963. Ricoh Company, Ltd. was incorporated in 1936 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About HP

HP Inc. provides products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. It operates through Personal Systems and Printing segments. The Personal Systems segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, thin clients, commercial tablets and mobility devices, retail point-of-sale systems, displays and other related accessories, software, support, and services for the commercial and consumer markets. The Printing segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, solutions, and services, as well as scanning devices; and laserJet and enterprise, inkjet and printing, graphics, and 3D printing solutions. The company was formerly known as Hewlett-Packard Company and changed its name to HP Inc. in October 2015. HP Inc. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.