Analyzing Fuel Tech (NASDAQ:FTEK) & Brink’s (NYSE:BCO)

Fuel Tech (NASDAQ:FTEK) and Brink’s (NYSE:BCO) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Fuel Tech and Brink’s, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fuel Tech	1	1	0	0	1.50
Brink’s	0	1	2	0	2.67

Brink’s has a consensus target price of $154.00, indicating a potential upside of 43.57%. Given Brink’s’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brink’s is more favorable than Fuel Tech.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

20.9% of Fuel Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Brink’s shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.8% of Fuel Tech shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Brink’s shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Fuel Tech has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brink’s has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Fuel Tech and Brink’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fuel Tech	-12.75%	-8.88%	-7.62%
Brink’s	3.30%	87.18%	4.95%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fuel Tech and Brink’s”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fuel Tech	$26.68 million	1.61	-$2.32 million	($0.11)	-12.55
Brink’s	$5.26 billion	0.84	$199.70 million	$4.32	24.83

Brink’s has higher revenue and earnings than Fuel Tech. Fuel Tech is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brink’s, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Brink’s beats Fuel Tech on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fuel Tech

Fuel Tech, Inc. provides boiler optimization, efficiency improvement, and air pollution reduction and control solutions to utility and industrial customers worldwide. The company operates through Air Pollution Control Technology and FUEL CHEM Technology segments. The Air Pollution Control Technology segment offers technologies to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in flue gas from boilers, incinerators, furnaces, and other stationary combustion sources; NOxOUT and HERT selective non-catalytic reduction systems; selective catalytic reduction systems comprising ammonia injection grid, and graduated straightening grid systems; I-NOx systems; ESP Processes and Services; ULTRA technology; and flue gas conditioning systems. The FUEL CHEM Technology segment provides programs to improve the efficiency, reliability, fuel flexibility, boiler heat rate, and environmental status of combustion units by controlling slagging, fouling, corrosion, opacity, and acid plume, as well as the formation of sulfur trioxide, ammonium bisulfate, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide through the addition of chemicals into the furnace using TIFI targeted in-furnace injection technology. This segment offers its FUEL CHEM program for plants operating in the electric utility, industrial, pulp and paper, waste-to-energy, and university and district heating markets; and the owners of boilers, furnaces, and other combustion units. Fuel Tech, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Warrenville, Illinois.

About Brink’s

The Brink’s Co. engages in providing cash management services, digital retail solutions, and ATM managed services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Latin America, Europe, and Rest of World. The North America segment operates in the U.S. and Canada. The Latin America segment refers to the operations in Latin American countries. The Europe segment relates to operations in European countries. The Rest of World segment focuses on the operations in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company was founded by Perry Brink and Fidelia Brink on May 5, 1859 and is headquartered in Richmond, VA.