Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF – Get Free Report) and Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Keyence and Mueller Water Products’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Keyence | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Mueller Water Products | 15.02% | 23.55% | 13.12% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
91.7% of Mueller Water Products shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Mueller Water Products shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
Keyence has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Water Products has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Keyence and Mueller Water Products, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Keyence | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.50 |
| Mueller Water Products | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 |
Mueller Water Products has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.26%. Given Mueller Water Products’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mueller Water Products is more favorable than Keyence.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Keyence and Mueller Water Products”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Keyence | $7.31 billion | 15.63 | $2.78 billion | $3.60 | 130.84 |
| Mueller Water Products | $1.43 billion | 2.58 | $191.70 million | $1.41 | 16.76 |
Keyence has higher revenue and earnings than Mueller Water Products. Mueller Water Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Keyence, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Keyence beats Mueller Water Products on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Keyence
Keyence Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of factory automation solutions in Japan, China, the United States, and internationally. The company offers photoelectric, fiber optic, laser, positioning, vision, specific solution, and inductive proximity sensors, as well as network communication units. It also provides measurement sensors, such as laser displacement and profiler, optical/laser micrometer, inductive displacement sensor, 3D interference measurement, spectral interference displacement, and contact displacement/LVDT sensors; and measurement systems, including optical comparators, 3D scanners, multisensor measurement, and CMM/laser trackers. In addition, the company provides safety products comprising safety laser scanners, light curtains, interlock switches, and controllers; and pressure, flow, level, and temperature sensors for monitoring equipment processes. Further, it offers static eliminators/ionizers and electrostatic sensors, which protect workers, machinery, and products from the damaging effects of electrostatic charge; vision systems and sensors; and programmable logic controllers, servo motor and system, and other controls that are used for machine control applications. Additionally, the company provides barcode and handheld scanners; laser marking systems/laser markers, UV laser coder, and industrial continuous inkjet printers; digital, 3D surface profilers, elemental analyzers, optical profilometers, and fluorescence microscopes; data loggers; and mobile/ handheld computers. It serves customers in automotive, semiconductors/LCDs, electronic devices, food/pharmaceutical, medical technology, logistics, metals, plastics, and films/sheets industries. Keyence Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.
About Mueller Water Products
Mueller Water Products, Inc. manufactures and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water used by municipalities, and the residential and non-residential construction industries in the United States, Israel, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions. The Water Flow Solutions segment provides valves for water systems, such as iron gate, butterfly, tapping, check, knife, plug, and ball valves, which are used to control distribution and transmission of potable water and non-potable water, as well as in water transmission or distribution, water treatment facilities, or industrial applications. It also offers service brass products. The Water Management Solutions segment offers dry-barrel and wet-barrel fire hydrants for water infrastructure development; fire protection systems, and water infrastructure repair and replacement projects; pipe repair products, such as couplings, grips, and clamps used to repair leaks; residential, fire line, and commercial water metering products, systems, and services; water leak detection and pipe condition assessment products and services; machines and tools for tapping, drilling, extracting, installing, and stopping-off; gas valve products for use in gas distribution systems; and intelligent water solutions, including pressure control valves, advanced pressure management, network analytics, event management, and date logging. It sells its products under the Canada Valve, Centurion, Ez-Max, Hydro Gate, Hydro-Guard, HYMAX, HYMAX VERSA, Jones, Krausz, Milliken, Mueller, Pratt, Pratt Industrial, Repamax, Repaflex, Singer, Echologics, Echoshore, ePulse, Hersey, LeakFinderRT, LeakFinderST, LeakListener, LeakTuner, Mi.Echo, Mi.Net, Mueller Systems, Sentryx, and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant brands. Mueller Water Products, Inc. was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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