Reviewing Keyence (KYCCF) & Its Rivals

Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF) is one of 435 publicly-traded companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Keyence to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Keyence has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Keyence’s competitors have a beta of 4.70, meaning that their average share price is 370% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Keyence and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Keyence	N/A	N/A	N/A
Keyence Competitors	-1,044.73%	-15.17%	0.52%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.0% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by institutional investors. 14.5% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Keyence and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Keyence	$7.31 billion	$2.78 billion	144.26
Keyence Competitors	$4.68 billion	$366.14 million	-6.09

Keyence has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Keyence is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Keyence and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Keyence	0	1	2	1	3.00
Keyence Competitors	4140	14566	17994	788	2.41

As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 29.43%. Given Keyence’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Keyence has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Keyence beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Keyence

Keyence Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of factory automation solutions in Japan, China, the United States, and internationally. The company offers photoelectric, fiber optic, laser, positioning, vision, specific solution, and inductive proximity sensors, as well as network communication units. It also provides measurement sensors, such as laser displacement and profiler, optical/laser micrometer, inductive displacement sensor, 3D interference measurement, spectral interference displacement, and contact displacement/LVDT sensors; and measurement systems, including optical comparators, 3D scanners, multisensor measurement, and CMM/laser trackers. In addition, the company provides safety products comprising safety laser scanners, light curtains, interlock switches, and controllers; and pressure, flow, level, and temperature sensors for monitoring equipment processes. Further, it offers static eliminators/ionizers and electrostatic sensors, which protect workers, machinery, and products from the damaging effects of electrostatic charge; vision systems and sensors; and programmable logic controllers, servo motor and system, and other controls that are used for machine control applications. Additionally, the company provides barcode and handheld scanners; laser marking systems/laser markers, UV laser coder, and industrial continuous inkjet printers; digital, 3D surface profilers, elemental analyzers, optical profilometers, and fluorescence microscopes; data loggers; and mobile/ handheld computers. It serves customers in automotive, semiconductors/LCDs, electronic devices, food/pharmaceutical, medical technology, logistics, metals, plastics, and films/sheets industries. Keyence Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.