Analyzing Belden (NYSE:BDC) and Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN)

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) and Belden (NYSE:BDC) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.8% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.8% of Belden shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Belden shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Ituran Location and Control pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Belden pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Ituran Location and Control pays out 61.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Belden pays out 3.3% 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. Ituran Location and Control has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Ituran Location and Control is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ituran Location and Control and Belden, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ituran Location and Control	0	1	4	0	2.80
Belden	0	2	5	1	2.88

Ituran Location and Control presently has a consensus price target of $60.67, indicating a potential upside of 18.74%. Belden has a consensus price target of $156.00, indicating a potential upside of 43.99%. Given Belden’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Belden is more favorable than Ituran Location and Control.

Profitability

This table compares Ituran Location and Control and Belden’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ituran Location and Control	16.28%	29.03%	16.29%
Belden	8.52%	25.00%	9.24%

Volatility & Risk

Ituran Location and Control has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Belden has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ituran Location and Control and Belden”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ituran Location and Control	$359.02 million	2.83	$57.97 million	$3.24	15.77
Belden	$2.72 billion	1.56	$237.52 million	$6.15	17.62

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

Summary

Belden beats Ituran Location and Control on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ituran Location and Control

Ituran Location and Control Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides location based telematics services and machine-to-machine telematics products. It operates through two segments, Telematics Services and Telematics Products. The Telematics services segment offers stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, which enables to locate, track, and recover stolen vehicles for its subscribers; fleet management services that enable corporate and individual customers to track and manage their vehicles in real time; and locator services that allow customers to protect valuable merchandise and equipment. This segment also delivers on-demand navigation guidance, information, and assistance, including the provision of traffic reports and directions, as well as information on the location of gas stations, car repair shops, post offices, hospitals, and other facilities; and Connected Car, a service platform that includes a back-office application, a telematics device installed in the vehicle, mobile apps for IOS and Android users, and interface using the car infotainment screen, as well as usage based insurance and auto financing services. This segment serves insurance companies and agents, car manufacturers, dealers and importers, cooperative sales channels, and private subscribers. The Telematics Products segment offers Base Site, a radio receiver that includes a processor and a data computation unit to collect and send data to and from transponders, and to control centers; Control Center, a center consisting of software used to collect data from various base sites, conduct location calculations, and transmit location data to various customers and law enforcement agencies; navigation and tracking devices installed in vehicles; and SMART, a portable transmitter installed in vehicles that sends a signal to the base site enabling the location of vehicles, equipment, or an individual. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Azor, Israel.

About Belden

Belden Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of signal transmission solutions for mission critical applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates in two segments, Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Automation Solutions. The Enterprise Solutions segment offers copper cable and connectivity solutions, fiber cable and connectivity solutions, interconnect panels, racks and enclosures, and signal extension and matrix switching systems for use in applications, such as local area networks, data centers, access control, 5G, fiber to the home, and building automation. It also provides power, cooling, and airflow management products for mission-critical data center operations; and end-to-end fiber and copper network systems. This segment serves commercial real estate, education, financial, stadiums and venues, military installations, and broadband and wireless service providers, as well as data centers, governments, healthcare, and hospitality sectors. The Industrial Automation Solutions segment offers network infrastructure and digitization solutions; secure networks for the digitization and automation of industries and infrastructure; and products and solutions covering various aspects of data handling, including acquisition, transmission, orchestration, and management for applications in discrete automation, process automation, energy, and mass transit. It sells its products to distributors, end-users, installers, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company was formerly known as Belden CDT Inc. and changed its name to Belden Inc. in May 2007. Belden Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.