Knowles (NYSE:KN) and Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR) Head-To-Head Survey

Research Frontiers (NASDAQ:REFR) and Knowles (NYSE:KN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Research Frontiers and Knowles”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Research Frontiers	$1.12 million	11.98	-$2.05 million	($0.07)	-5.50
Knowles	$593.20 million	4.81	$44.20 million	$0.82	41.05

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Research Frontiers and Knowles, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Research Frontiers	1	0	0	0	1.00
Knowles	0	2	2	1	2.80

Knowles has a consensus price target of $41.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.80%. Given Knowles’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Knowles is more favorable than Research Frontiers.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.9% of Research Frontiers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Knowles shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Research Frontiers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Knowles shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Research Frontiers and Knowles’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Research Frontiers	-344.56%	-168.54%	-85.08%
Knowles	10.76%	11.82%	8.75%

Volatility and Risk

Research Frontiers has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Knowles has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Knowles beats Research Frontiers on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Research Frontiers

Research Frontiers Incorporated engages in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light worldwide. It develops and licenses suspended particle device (SPD-Smart) light-control technology to companies that manufacture and market the SPD-Smart chemical emulsion, light-control film made from the chemical emulsion, the light-control panels made by laminating the film, and electronics to power end-products incorporating the film, as well as lamination services for and the end-products, such as windows, skylights, and sunroofs. The company's SPD-Smart light-control technology is used in various product applications, including windows, sunshades, skylights, and interior partitions for homes and buildings; automotive windows, sunroofs, sun-visors, sunshades, rear-view mirrors, instrument panels, and navigation systems; aircraft windows; museum display panels, and eyewear products; and flat panel displays for electronic products. It serves architectural, automotive, marine, and aerospace and appliance applications. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Woodbury, New York.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM). The PD segment designs and delivers film, electrolytic, and mica capacitor products for use in power supplies and medical implants; electromagnetic interference filters; and RF filtering solutions for use in satellite communications and radar systems for defense applications. The MSA segment designs and manufactures balanced armature speakers and microphones for the hearing health, audio, and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets. The CMM segment designs and manufactures micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphones and audio solutions used in applications that serve the ear, mobile, TWS, Internet of Things, computing, and smartphones markets. The company serves the defense, medtech, electric vehicle, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics markets through original equipment manufacturers, their contract manufacturers, suppliers, sales representatives, and distributors. Knowles Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.