Titan International (NYSE:TWI) & Kubota (OTCMKTS:KUBTY) Critical Survey

Kubota (OTCMKTS:KUBTY) and Titan International (NYSE:TWI) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.4% of Kubota shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Titan International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Kubota shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 25.0% of Titan International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Kubota and Titan International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kubota	6.71%	7.35%	3.36%
Titan International	-0.83%	-0.05%	-0.02%

Volatility & Risk

Kubota has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Titan International has a beta of 2.03, indicating that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Kubota and Titan International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kubota	0	2	0	0	2.00
Titan International	0	0	2	1	3.33

Titan International has a consensus price target of $11.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.61%. Given Titan International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Titan International is more favorable than Kubota.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kubota and Titan International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kubota	$19.95 billion	0.66	$1.52 billion	$5.62	10.21
Titan International	$1.85 billion	0.37	-$5.56 million	($0.21)	-51.05

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

Summary

Kubota beats Titan International on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kubota

Kubota Corporation manufactures and sells agricultural and construction machinery in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Farm & Machinery, Water & Environment, and Others. The Farm & Machinery segment offers tractors, power tillers, combine harvesters, rice transplanters, turf equipment, utility vehicles, other agricultural machinery, implements, attachments, post-harvest machinery, vegetable production equipment, intermediate management machine, and other equipment; cooperative drying, rice seedling, and gardening facilities; scales, weighing and measuring control systems, and air purifier; engines for farm equipment, construction machinery, industrial machinery, and generators; and mini excavators, wheel and skid steer loaders, compact track loaders, and other construction machinery related products. Its Water & Environment segment provides ductile iron pipes, synthetic pipes, valves, and single stack drain fittings, as well as design and construction services; reformer and cracking tubes, hearth rolls, TXAX materials, and spiral steel pipes; air-conditioning equipment; wastewater treatment equipment and plants, pumps and pump plants, membrane solutions, wastewater purification plants, night-soil treatment plants, waste incinerating and meltingplants, waste shredding and sorting plants, flue gas desulfurization apparatus, membrane methane fermentation plants, wastewater treatment plant, and valves. The Others segment offers logistics services; and roofing and exterior wall materials. It also engages in the underwriting of non-life insurance, retail financing, finance leasing, maintenance, security guarding, and facility management services; and import and export of components for farm equipment, engines, and construction machinery. It serves customers through a network of dealers. Kubota Corporation was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.

About Titan International

Titan International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells wheels, tires, and undercarriage systems and components for off-highway vehicles in the United States and internationally. The company operates in Agricultural, Earthmoving/Construction, and Consumer segments. It offers wheels, tires, and undercarriage systems and components for various agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, skidders, plows, planters, and irrigation equipment. The company also offers wheels, tires, and undercarriage systems and components for off-the-road earthmoving, mining, military, construction, and forestry equipment, including skid steers, aerial lifts, cranes, graders and levelers, scrapers, self-propelled shovel loaders, articulated dump trucks, load transporters, haul trucks, backhoe loaders, crawler tractors, lattice cranes, shovels, and hydraulic excavators. In addition, it provides bias and light truck tires; and products for ATVs, rock climbers, and turf applications, as well as specialty products and train brakes. It sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers, as well as to the aftermarket through independent distributors, equipment dealers, and its distribution centers. Titan International, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in West Chicago, Illinois.