Reviewing SMC (SMCAY) and The Competition

SMC (OTCMKTS:SMCAY) is one of 377 public companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare SMC to related companies based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.0% of SMC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by institutional investors. 16.0% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

SMC pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. SMC pays out 17.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.9% and pay out 70.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

SMC has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SMC’s peers have a beta of -0.30, meaning that their average stock price is 130% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SMC and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SMC	21.94%	9.40%	8.53%
SMC Competitors	-158.15%	-25.69%	-6.84%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SMC and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SMC	0	2	1	0	2.33
SMC Competitors	2047	7595	10413	658	2.47

As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 34.88%. Given SMC’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SMC has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SMC and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
SMC	$5.60 billion	$1.10 billion	19.08
SMC Competitors	$115.45 billion	$167.45 million	6.66

SMC’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than SMC. SMC is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

SMC peers beat SMC on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About SMC

SMC Corporation manufactures, processes, and sells automatic control equipment, sintered filters, and various types of filtration equipment worldwide. The company offers air management system, directional control valves, air cylinders, rotatory actuators/air grippers, electric actuators/cylinders, fitting and tubing, and modular F.R.L./pressure control equipment, as well as vacuum, air preparation, and lubrication equipment. It also provides flow control equipment, speed controllers, silencers/exhaust/blow guns/pressure gauges, switches/sensors/controllers, static neutralization equipment, and industrial device communication equipment/wireless system. In addition, the company offers process valves, chemical liquid valves/fittings and needle valves/tubing, process pumps, temperature control equipment, and process gas equipment, as well as high vacuum equipment, industrial filters/sintered metal elements, and pneumatic instrumentation and hydraulic equipment. The company was formerly known as Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd. and changed its name to SMC Corporation in April 1986. SMC Corporation was incorporated in 1959 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.