Critical Contrast: Daimler Truck (OTCMKTS:DTRUY) and Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR)

Daimler Truck (OTCMKTS:DTRUY) and Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Daimler Truck and Miller Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daimler Truck	0	2	5	2	3.00
Miller Industries	0	2	1	0	2.33

Miller Industries has a consensus price target of $49.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.36%. Given Miller Industries’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Miller Industries is more favorable than Daimler Truck.

Profitability

This table compares Daimler Truck and Miller Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daimler Truck	6.17%	6.04%	1.85%
Miller Industries	2.15%	4.12%	2.90%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.2% of Miller Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 4.5% of Miller Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Daimler Truck pays an annual dividend of $0.79 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Miller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Daimler Truck pays out 158.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Miller Industries pays out 56.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Miller Industries has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Daimler Truck has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Miller Industries has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Daimler Truck and Miller Industries”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daimler Truck	$51.50 billion	0.70	$2.23 billion	$0.50	46.90
Miller Industries	$790.27 million	0.70	$23.01 million	$1.50	32.78

Daimler Truck has higher revenue and earnings than Miller Industries. Miller Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Daimler Truck, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Daimler Truck

Daimler Truck Holding AG is a global manufacturer of commercial vehicles, including heavy- and medium-duty trucks and buses. Its brands include Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses. The company also provides parts, maintenance, digital and connected-vehicle services, and financing solutions. Headquartered in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, Daimler Truck serves customers across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. Its business includes vehicles and services for a range of commercial uses, from freight transport to passenger transit.

About Miller Industries

Miller Industries, Inc. designs and manufactures towing and recovery equipment. Its products include wreckers, car carriers, rotators and other vehicles used to tow, transport and recover disabled or damaged vehicles. The company sells equipment under brands including Century, Vulcan, Chevron, Holmes, Champion and Eagle. Its products serve towing and recovery operators, with distribution in the United States and international markets. Founded in 1990, Miller Industries is headquartered in Ooltewah, Tennessee.