Analyzing Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) and Mistras Group (NYSE:MG)

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) and Mistras Group (NYSE:MG) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Bel Fuse and Mistras Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bel Fuse	0	1	1	1	3.00
Mistras Group	0	1	0	0	2.00

Bel Fuse presently has a consensus price target of $115.00, indicating a potential downside of 15.89%. Given Bel Fuse’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Bel Fuse is more favorable than Mistras Group.

Volatility and Risk

Bel Fuse has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mistras Group has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bel Fuse and Mistras Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bel Fuse	$649.38 million	2.67	$40.96 million	$4.93	27.73
Mistras Group	$729.64 million	0.41	$18.96 million	$0.37	25.79

Bel Fuse has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Mistras Group. Mistras Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bel Fuse, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Bel Fuse and Mistras Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bel Fuse	10.04%	21.84%	8.78%
Mistras Group	1.64%	9.37%	3.54%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.0% of Bel Fuse shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of Mistras Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Bel Fuse shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Mistras Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Bel Fuse beats Mistras Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc. designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company's products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries. It provides power solutions and protection products, including front-end power supplies, board-mount power products, industrial and transportation power products, external power products, and circuit protection products. The company also offers connectivity solutions, such as expanded beam fiber optic connectors, cable assemblies, and active optical devices; copper-based connectors/cable assemblies; radio frequency connectors, cable assemblies, microwave devices, and low loss cables; and ethernet, I/O, and industrial and power connectivity products. In addition, it provides magnetic solutions comprising integrated connector modules, power transformers, SMD power inductors and SMPS transformers, and ethernet discrete components. The company sells its products through direct strategic account managers, regional sales managers working with independent sales representative organizations, and authorized distributors in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Macao, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Germany, India, Switzerland, and internationally. Bel Fuse Inc. was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in West Orange, New Jersey.

About Mistras Group

Mistras Group, Inc. provides technology-enabled asset protection solutions in the United States, other Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers non-destructive testing services; inline inspection for pipelines; and plant condition management software. It also provides maintenance and light mechanical services, such as corrosion removal, mitigation and prevention, insulation installation and removal, electrical, heat tracing, industrial cleaning, pipefitting, and welding; engineering consulting services primarily for process equipment, technologies, and facilities; and utilizes scaffolding and rope access to access at-height and confined assets. In addition, the company offers certified divers for subsea inspection and maintenance; unmanned aerial, land-based, and subsea systems for inspection applications; online condition-monitoring solutions; quality assurance and quality control solutions for new and existing metal and alloy components, materials, and composites. Further, it builds monitoring systems, as well as provides inspection, maintenance, monitoring and data services; and Web-based solutions. Additionally, the company designs, manufactures, and sells acoustic emission sensors, instruments, and turnkey systems for monitoring and testing materials, pressure components, processes, and structures; and ultrasonic testing equipment. It serves oil and gas, aerospace and defense, fossil and nuclear power, power generation and transmission, civil infrastructure, manufacturing, industrial, public infrastructure, petrochemical, transportation, and other process industries, as well as infrastructure, research, and engineering industries. Mistras Group, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.