GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:GEAGY) versus Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) Head-To-Head Comparison

Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) and GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:GEAGY) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Valmont Industries has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Valmont Industries and GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Valmont Industries	$4.10 billion	2.20	$334.78 million	$25.68	18.20
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft	$5.47 billion	1.34	-$191.04 million	($1.16)	-34.99

Valmont Industries has higher earnings, but lower revenue than GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valmont Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Valmont Industries pays an annual dividend of $3.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft pays an annual dividend of $0.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Valmont Industries pays out 12.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft pays out -80.2% 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. Valmont Industries has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Valmont Industries and GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Valmont Industries	11.70%	25.57%	12.44%
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft	-3.20%	-7.43%	-2.78%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.8% of Valmont Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Valmont Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Valmont Industries and GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Valmont Industries	0	2	4	0	2.67
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft	0	1	1	0	2.50

Valmont Industries presently has a consensus price target of $587.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.62%. Given Valmont Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Valmont Industries is more favorable than GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.

Summary

Valmont Industries beats GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Valmont Industries

Valmont Industries, Inc. operates as manufacturer of products and services for infrastructure and agriculture markets in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Infrastructure and Agriculture. The company manufactures and distributes steel, pre-stressed concrete, composite structures for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications; and designs, engineers, and manufactures metal, steel, wood, aluminum, and composite poles and structures for lighting and transportation applications. It also offers galvanizing, anodizing, painting, and powder coating services for paint products; towers, small cell structures, camouflage concealment solutions, passive intermodulation mitigation equipment, and components for wireless communication markets; and solar single-axis tracker product, an integrated system of steel structures, electric motors, and electronic controllers, as well as provides coatings services to preserve metal products. In addition, the company manufactures center pivot components and linear irrigation equipment for the agricultural markets, such as parts and tubular products for industrial customers; advanced technology solutions for agricultural sector; mechanical irrigation equipment and service parts under the Valley brand name. It serves municipalities and government entities, commercial lighting fixtures manufacturing companies, contractors, telecommunications and utility companies, and farmers, as well as the general manufacturing sector. Valmont Industries, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

About GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft engages in the development and production of systems and components for the food processing industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Business Area Equipment and Business Area Solutions. The Business Area Equipment segment offers separators, valves, pumps, homogenizers, and refrigeration compressors, as well as process technology solutions for food processing and packaging applications; and dairy equipment, feeding systems, and slurry engineering solutions. The Business Area Solutions segment provides process solutions for the dairy, food, beverage, pharma, and chemical industries. The company was formerly known as mg technologies ag and changed its name to GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft in 2005. The company has a strategic partnership with SAP SE. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.