AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR – Get Free Report) and Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI – 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, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares AEye and Badger Meter”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| AEye | $450,000.00 | 110.98 | -$33.96 million | ($0.87) | -1.23 |
| Badger Meter | $916.66 million | 3.92 | $141.63 million | $4.28 | 28.95 |
Volatility & Risk
AEye has a beta of 2.7, indicating that its share price is 170% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Badger Meter has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for AEye and Badger Meter, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| AEye | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Badger Meter | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2.42 |
AEye presently has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 227.10%. Badger Meter has a consensus price target of $162.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.75%. Given AEye’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe AEye is more favorable than Badger Meter.
Profitability
This table compares AEye and Badger Meter’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| AEye | -7,786.44% | -42.98% | -38.52% |
| Badger Meter | 14.27% | 18.03% | 12.82% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
21.6% of AEye shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of AEye shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Badger Meter beats AEye on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About AEye
AEye, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides lidar systems for vehicle autonomy, advanced driver-assistance systems, and robotic vision applications in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It offers 4Sight intelligent sensing lidar platform, including 4Sight at Design, Triggered 4Sight, Responsive 4Sight, and Predictive 4Sight; and 4Sight for automotive and industrial market. The company was formerly known as CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III and changed its name to AEye, Inc. in August 2021. AEye, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.
About Badger Meter
Badger Meter, Inc. manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives. In addition, the company offers ORION Cellular endpoints to power network as a service; ORION mobile read endpoints support for deploying AMR solution; radio products; hardware, instruments, and sensors, and related software, to enhance connected data to a water utility's operation; water quality monitoring solutions, including optical sensing and electrochemical instruments; and high frequency pressure and leak detection sensors to aid in burst pipe and leak events; as well as BEACON, a secure cloud-hosted software suite that establishes alerts for specific conditions and allows consumer engagement tools that permit end water customers to view and manage their water usage activity. Its flow instrumentation products are used in water/wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and corporate sustainability markets. The company serves water utilities, commercial, and industrial industries; and provides training, project management, technical support, and other collaborative services for customers. It sells its products and software directly, as well as through resellers and representatives. The company was incorporated in 1905 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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