Comparing Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI)

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) and Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Pitney Bowes shares are held by institutional investors. 9.0% of Pitney Bowes shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pitney Bowes and Ricoh”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pitney Bowes	$2.03 billion	0.94	-$203.60 million	($0.91)	-11.40
Ricoh	$16.60 billion	0.31	$117.84 million	$0.46	19.59

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

Dividends

Pitney Bowes pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ricoh pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Pitney Bowes pays out -30.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ricoh pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Pitney Bowes has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Pitney Bowes is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Pitney Bowes has a beta of 1.61, suggesting that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ricoh has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Pitney Bowes and Ricoh, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pitney Bowes	0	1	0	0	2.00
Ricoh	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Pitney Bowes and Ricoh’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pitney Bowes	-7.18%	-31.61%	4.53%
Ricoh	1.68%	3.91%	1.77%

Summary

Pitney Bowes beats Ricoh on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc., a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments. The Global Ecommerce segment provides domestic parcel services, cross-border solutions, and digital delivery services. The Presort Services segment offers mail sortation services, which allow clients to qualify volumes of first-class mail, marketing mail, marketing mail flats, and bound printed matter for postal work sharing discounts. The SendTech Solutions segment provides physical and digital mailing and shipping technology solutions, and other applications for sending, tracking and receiving of letters, parcels, and flats as well as financing alternatives to finance equipment and product purchases. It markets its products, solutions, and services through direct and inside sales force, global and regional partner channels, direct mailings, and digital channels. The company was formerly known as Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company. Pitney Bowes Inc. was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Ricoh

Ricoh Company, Ltd. provides office, commercial printing, and related solutions worldwide. It operates through Digital services, Digital Products, Graphic Communications, Industrial Solutions, and Other segments. The company sells multifunctional printers (MFPs), laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machines, scanners, personal computers, servers, network equipment, related parts and supplies, services, and support and service and solutions related to documents. It also offers production and OEM services for MFPs, laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machine, scanners, network equipment, and related parts and supplies. In addition, the company produces and sells cut sheet printers, continuous feed printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, related parts and supplies, services, and support and software. Further, it produces and sells thermal paper and media products, industrial optical components/modules, and electronic components and precision mechanical components, as well as offers digital cameras, 360°cameras, and environment and healthcare products. The company was formerly known as Riken Optical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963. Ricoh Company, Ltd. was incorporated in 1936 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.