Comparing Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) & Advantest (OTCMKTS:ATEYY)

Advantest (OTCMKTS:ATEYY) and Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) are both large-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Advantest and Littelfuse, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Advantest	0	1	0	2	3.33
Littelfuse	0	2	4	0	2.67

Littelfuse has a consensus price target of $465.83, suggesting a potential upside of 10.27%. Given Littelfuse’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Littelfuse is more favorable than Advantest.

Risk and Volatility

Advantest has a beta of 2.12, meaning that its share price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Littelfuse has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Advantest and Littelfuse”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Advantest	$7.50 billion	20.80	$2.48 billion	$4.06	52.46
Littelfuse	$2.39 billion	4.50	-$71.70 million	($0.50)	-844.86

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

Dividends

Advantest pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Littelfuse pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Advantest pays out 6.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Littelfuse pays out -640.0% 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. Littelfuse has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Littelfuse is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Advantest and Littelfuse’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Advantest	37.15%	58.10%	38.75%
Littelfuse	-0.31%	13.02%	8.32%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Advantest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Littelfuse shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Littelfuse shares are owned by 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

Advantest beats Littelfuse on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Advantest

Advantest Corporation manufactures and sells semiconductors, component test system products, and mechatronics related products in Japan, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor and Component Test System; Mechatronics Related Business; and Services, Support and Others. The Semiconductor and Component Test System segment provides customers with test system products for the semiconductor industry and the electronic parts industry, as well as offers test systems for SoC semiconductor devices, and test systems for memory semiconductors devices. The Mechatronics Related Business segment provides test handlers; mechatronic-applied products for handling semiconductor devices; and device interfaces, which serve as interfaces with the devices that are measured, as well as nano-technology related products. The Services, Support and Others segment provides test solutions of system level testing customer solutions for the semiconductor and modules, and support services. This segment is also involved in the sale of consumables and used products, and equipment lease and other businesses. It also engages in the research and development activities and provides maintenance and support services. The company was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors. This segment serves industrial motor drives and power conversion, automotive electronics, electric vehicle and related charging infrastructure, aerospace, power supplies, data centers, telecommunications, medical devices, alternative energy, building and home automation, appliances, and mobile electronics markets. The Transportation segment provides blade, resettable, and high-current and high-voltage fuses, as well as battery cable protectors; fuses, switches, relays, circuit breakers, and power distribution modules; and sensor products. This segment serves heavy-duty truck, construction, agriculture, material handling, and marine. The Industrial segment offers industrial fuses, protection relays, contactors, transformers, residual current devices, ground fault circuit interrupters, residual current monitors, arc fault detection devices, and temperature sensors for use in renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle infrastructure, HVAC systems, industrial safety, non-residential construction, MRO, mining, and factory automation. It sells its products through distributors, direct sales force, and manufacturers' representatives. Littelfuse, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.