Critical Contrast: AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) versus Taikisha (OTCMKTS:TKIAF)

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) and Taikisha (OTCMKTS:TKIAF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Dividends

AZZ pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Taikisha pays an annual dividend of $35.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 159.9%. AZZ pays out 14.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Taikisha pays out 23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.9% of AZZ shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of AZZ shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AZZ and Taikisha’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AZZ	11.83%	14.18%	8.48%
Taikisha	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for AZZ and Taikisha, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AZZ	0	2	4	0	2.67
Taikisha	0	0	0	0	0.00

AZZ presently has a consensus price target of $155.25, suggesting a potential upside of 12.00%. Given AZZ’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AZZ is more favorable than Taikisha.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AZZ and Taikisha”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AZZ	$1.65 billion	2.52	$317.26 million	$6.56	21.13
Taikisha	N/A	N/A	N/A	$152.92	0.15

AZZ has higher revenue and earnings than Taikisha. Taikisha is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AZZ, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

AZZ beats Taikisha on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AZZ

AZZ Inc. provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in North America. It offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries, as well as to fabricators or manufacturers that provide services to the transmission and distribution, bridge and highway, petrochemical, and general industrial markets; and original equipment manufacturers. It also provides aesthetic and corrosion protective coatings and related value-added services for steel and aluminum coil primarily serving the construction; appliance; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; container; transportation; and other end markets. The company was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Taikisha

Taikisha Ltd. engages in the design and construction of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and paint finishing systems. Its operations are carried out through the following segments: Green Technology Systems and Paint Finishing Systems. The Green Technology Systems segment encompasses construction and installation of HVAC facilities, cleanrooms, plumbing and sanitary equipment, treatment systems, and HVAC facilities for buildings, factories, industrial plants, laboratories, hospitals, and schools. The Paint Finishing Systems segment designs, manages, and constructs paint coating systems for automobiles, trains, and aircrafts. The company was founded by Takeshi Uenishi on April 10, 1913 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.