Knowles (NYSE:KN – Get Free Report) and Sierra Monitor (OTCMKTS:SRMC – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Knowles and Sierra Monitor, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Knowles | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Sierra Monitor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Knowles presently has a consensus target price of $40.67, indicating a potential upside of 8.51%. Given Knowles’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Knowles is more favorable than Sierra Monitor.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Knowles | $635.00 million | 5.04 | $44.20 million | $0.77 | 48.67 |
| Sierra Monitor | $22.08 million | 1.52 | $170,000.00 | N/A | N/A |
Knowles has higher revenue and earnings than Sierra Monitor.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
96.3% of Knowles shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Knowles shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 45.5% of Sierra Monitor shares are owned 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.
Profitability
This table compares Knowles and Sierra Monitor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Knowles | 10.63% | 11.45% | 8.33% |
| Sierra Monitor | 0.76% | 2.89% | 2.33% |
Risk and Volatility
Knowles has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sierra Monitor has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its stock price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Knowles beats Sierra Monitor on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Knowles
Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM). The PD segment designs and delivers film, electrolytic, and mica capacitor products for use in power supplies and medical implants; electromagnetic interference filters; and RF filtering solutions for use in satellite communications and radar systems for defense applications. The MSA segment designs and manufactures balanced armature speakers and microphones for the hearing health, audio, and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets. The CMM segment designs and manufactures micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphones and audio solutions used in applications that serve the ear, mobile, TWS, Internet of Things, computing, and smartphones markets. The company serves the defense, medtech, electric vehicle, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics markets through original equipment manufacturers, their contract manufacturers, suppliers, sales representatives, and distributors. Knowles Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.
About Sierra Monitor
Sierra Monitor Corporation provides industrial Internet of things solutions that connect and protect infrastructure assets to the industrial and commercial facilities management market in the United States and internationally. It offers FieldServer family of protocol gateways, routers, and network explorers for system integrators and original equipment manufacturers to enable local and remote monitoring and control of assets and facilities; and Sentry IT flame and gas detection solutions used by industrial and commercial facilities managers to protect their personnel and assets. The company sells its solutions to telecommunication companies and their suppliers. Sierra Monitor Corporation was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.
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