Electro-Sensors (ELSE) vs. Its Competitors Critical Review

Electro-Sensors (NASDAQ:ELSE) is one of 378 public companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Electro-Sensors to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.7% of Electro-Sensors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.7% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Electro-Sensors shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.2% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Electro-Sensors pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Electro-Sensors pays out 200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.8% and pay out 66.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Electro-Sensors and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electro-Sensors	2.42%	1.73%	1.62%
Electro-Sensors Competitors	-184.55%	-150.00%	-6.93%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Electro-Sensors and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electro-Sensors	$10.48 million	$310,000.00	96.75
Electro-Sensors Competitors	$3.99 billion	$190.55 million	-0.04

Electro-Sensors’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Electro-Sensors. Electro-Sensors is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Electro-Sensors and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electro-Sensors	0	1	0	0	2.00
Electro-Sensors Competitors	2002	7528	10256	626	2.47

As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 29.69%. Given Electro-Sensors’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Electro-Sensors has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Electro-Sensors has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Electro-Sensors’ peers have a beta of -0.31, suggesting that their average stock price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Electro-Sensors peers beat Electro-Sensors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Electro-Sensors

Electro-Sensors, Inc. engages in the manufacture and selling of industrial production monitoring and process control systems. Its products include shaft speed witches; wireless hazard monitoring; temperature sensor; slide gate and angle position; bearing sensors and belt alignment; and motor drive control. The company was founded by James P. Slattery in 1965 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, MN.