Contrasting Optical Cable (OCC) and Its Rivals

Optical Cable (NASDAQ:OCC) is one of 110 public companies in the “Communications Equipment” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Optical Cable to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Optical Cable has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Optical Cable’s rivals have a beta of 1.17, meaning that their average share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Optical Cable and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Optical Cable	0	2	0	0	2.00
Optical Cable Competitors	1072	4021	7068	378	2.54

As a group, “Communications Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 46.50%. Given Optical Cable’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Optical Cable has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Optical Cable and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Optical Cable	$73.04 million	-$1.46 million	41.45
Optical Cable Competitors	$5.64 billion	$292.12 million	-2.88

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

Profitability

This table compares Optical Cable and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Optical Cable	3.10%	15.88%	6.17%
Optical Cable Competitors	0.13%	-5.18%	2.94%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.6% of Optical Cable shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.4% of shares of all “Communications Equipment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 22.4% of Optical Cable shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of shares of all “Communications Equipment” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Optical Cable rivals beat Optical Cable on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Optical Cable Company Profile

Optical Cable Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of fiber optic and copper data communications cabling and connectivity solutions primarily for the enterprise market in the United States and internationally. The company provides fiber optic and hybrid cables for high bandwidth transmission of data, video, and voice communications; and copper datacom cables, including unshielded and shielded twisted pair constructions. Its fiber optic connectivity products include fiber optic wall mounts, cabinet mount and rack mount enclosures, pre-terminated fiber optic enclosures, fiber optic connectors, splice trays, fiber optic jumpers, plug and play cassette modules, pre-terminated fiber optic cable assemblies, adapters, and accessories; and copper connectivity products comprising category compliant patch panels, jacks, plugs, patch cords, faceplates, surface mounted boxes, distribution and multi-media boxes, copper rack mount and wall mount enclosures, cable assemblies, cable organizers, and other wiring products for equipment rooms, telecommunications closets, data centers, and workstation applications. In addition, the company offers network, data storage, and telecommunications management systems, such as data cabinets, wall mount enclosures, horizontal and vertical cable management systems, and open frame relay racks; and datacom wiring products, including various enclosures, and modules and modular outlets for single dwelling and multiple dwelling residential uses. Further, it provides specialty fiber optic connectors and connectivity components, copper datacom connectors, and related systems and solutions for military, other harsh environment, and special applications, as well as cylindrical connector products. The company sells its products to distributors, original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, and end-users. Optical Cable Corporation was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia.