Openlane (NYSE:OPLN) versus Acco Brands (NYSE:ACCO) Head-To-Head Comparison

Acco Brands (NYSE:ACCO) and Openlane (NYSE:OPLN) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Acco Brands and Openlane’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acco Brands	3.74%	12.57%	3.69%
Openlane	9.67%	12.81%	3.62%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.6% of Acco Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of Openlane shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Acco Brands shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Openlane shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Acco Brands has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Openlane has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Acco Brands and Openlane, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acco Brands	0	2	1	0	2.33
Openlane	0	3	4	0	2.57

Acco Brands presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.05%. Openlane has a consensus target price of $43.83, indicating a potential upside of 23.48%. Given Acco Brands’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Acco Brands is more favorable than Openlane.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Acco Brands and Openlane”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acco Brands	$1.52 billion	0.26	$41.30 million	$0.62	6.96
Openlane	$1.93 billion	2.25	$177.70 million	($0.85)	-41.76

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

Summary

Openlane beats Acco Brands on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acco Brands

ACCO Brands Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets consumer, school, technology, and office products. It operates through three segments: ACCO Brands North America, ACCO Brands EMEA, and ACCO Brands International. The company provides computer and gaming accessories, planners, dry erase boards, school notebooks, and janitorial supplies; storage and organization products, such as lever-arch binders, sheet protectors, and indexes; sheet protectors and indexes; laminating, binding, and shredding machines; writing instruments and art products; stapling and punching products; and do-it-yourself tools. It offers its products under the AT-A-GLANCE, Barrilito, Derwent, Esselte, Five Star, Foroni, GBC, Hilroy, Kensington, Leitz, Marbig, Mead, NOBO, PowerA, Quartet, Rapid, Rexel, Swingline, Tilibra, Artline, and Spirax brand names. The company markets and sells its products through various channels, including mass retailers, e-tailers, discount, drug/grocery, and variety chains; warehouse clubs; hardware and specialty stores; independent office product dealers; office superstores; wholesalers; contract stationers; and technology specialty businesses, as well as sells products directly to commercial and consumer end-users through its e-commerce platform and direct sales organization. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

About Openlane

OPENLANE Inc. provides sellers and buyers across the wholesale used vehicle industry with technology-driven remarketing solutions. The company’s end-to-end platform supports whole car, financing, logistics and other ancillary and related services. OPENLANE Inc., formerly known as KAR Auction Services Inc., is based in CARMEL, Ind.