KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) is one of 221 public companies in the “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare KLA to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.7% of KLA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 79.4% of KLA shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
KLA pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies pay a dividend yield of 0.9% and pay out 28.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. KLA has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.
Risk and Volatility
KLA has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KLA’s competitors have a beta of 2.80, suggesting that their average share price is 180% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares KLA and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| KLA | 36.25% | 89.30% | 30.85% |
| KLA Competitors | -1,278.97% | -126.38% | -4.00% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares KLA and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| KLA | $13.58 billion | $4.83 billion | 37.84 |
| KLA Competitors | $7.38 billion | $2.49 billion | 8.49 |
KLA has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. KLA is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for KLA and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| KLA | 0 | 9 | 19 | 1 | 2.72 |
| KLA Competitors | 3508 | 12368 | 25803 | 1000 | 2.57 |
KLA presently has a consensus target price of $220.35, indicating a potential upside of 45.56%. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 42.27%. Given KLA’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe KLA is more favorable than its competitors.
Summary
KLA beats its competitors on 13 of the 15 factors compared.
About KLA
KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection. The company offers inspection and review tools to identify, locate, characterize, review, and analyze defects on various surfaces of patterned and unpatterned wafers; metrology systems that are used to measure pattern dimensions, film thickness, film stress, layer-to-layer alignment, pattern placement, surface topography, and electro-optical properties for wafers; chemical process control equipment; wired and wireless sensor wafers and reticles; wafer defect inspection, review, and metrology systems; reticle inspection and metrology systems; and semiconductor software solutions that provide run-time process control, defect excursion identification, process corrections, and defect classification to accelerate yield learning rates and reduce production risk. It also provides etch, plasma dicing, deposition, and other wafer processing technologies and solutions for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. In addition, the company offers direct imaging, inspection, optical shaping, inkjet and additive printing, UV laser drilling, and computer-aided manufacturing and engineering solutions for the PCB market; inspection and electrical testing systems to identify and classify defects, as well as systems to repair defects for the display market; and inspection and metrology systems for quality control and yield improvement in advanced and traditional semiconductor packaging markets. The company was formerly known as KLA-Tencor Corporation and changed its name to KLA Corporation in July 2019. KLA Corporation was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.
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