Head to Head Analysis: Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) vs. Amphenol (NYSE:APH)

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) and Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) are both large-cap technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.0% of Amphenol shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.8% of Murata Manufacturing shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Amphenol shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Amphenol and Murata Manufacturing’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amphenol	17.73%	39.87%	14.80%
Murata Manufacturing	13.86%	9.84%	8.39%

Dividends

Amphenol pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Murata Manufacturing pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Amphenol pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murata Manufacturing pays out 25.5% 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. Amphenol is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amphenol and Murata Manufacturing”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amphenol	$29.01 billion	7.39	$4.27 billion	$2.00	43.47
Murata Manufacturing	$12.16 billion	8.28	$1.54 billion	$0.47	58.60

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Amphenol and Murata Manufacturing, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amphenol	0	2	16	0	2.89
Murata Manufacturing	0	1	1	1	3.00

Amphenol presently has a consensus target price of $96.85, suggesting a potential upside of 11.39%. Given Amphenol’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Amphenol is more favorable than Murata Manufacturing.

Volatility & Risk

Amphenol has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murata Manufacturing has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amphenol beats Murata Manufacturing on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems. The company offers connectors and connector systems, including harsh environment data, power, high-speed, fiber optic, and radio frequency interconnect products; busbars and power distribution systems; and other connectors. It also provides value-add products, such as backplane interconnect systems, cable assemblies and harnesses, and cable management products; other products comprising flexible and rigid printed circuit boards, hinges, other mechanical, and production related products. In addition, the company offers consumer device, network infrastructure, and other antennas; coaxial, power, and specialty cables; and sensors and sensor-based products. It sells its products through its sales force, independent representatives, and a network of electronics distributors to original equipment manufacturers, electronic manufacturing services companies, original design manufacturers, and service providers in the automotive, broadband communication, commercial aerospace, industrial, information technology and data communication, military, mobile device, and mobile network markets. Amphenol Corporation was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut.

About Murata Manufacturing

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. designs, manufactures, and sells ceramic-based passive electronic components and solutions in Japan and internationally. The company offers capacitors, inductors, noise suppression products/EMI suppression filters/ESD protection devices, resistors, thermistors, sensors, timing devices, quartz devices, sound components, power products, batteries, micro mechatronics, RFID product, baluns, couplers, filters, phase shifters, RF switches, front-end modules, SAW components, connectors, antennas, connectivity modules, wireless connectivity platforms, ionizers/active oxygen modules, and transformers. It also offers Femtet, a CAE software that solves various engineering challenges; and provides silver oxide battery. In addition, the company provides connectivity, Wifi sensing, IOT, AI, and RFID solutions. Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. offers its products for use in communications equipment, mobility, enterprise system, industrial, healthcare, medical, personal electronics applications, and other sectors. The company was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Nagaokakyo, Japan.