Reviewing Towerstream (OTCMKTS:TWER) and RF Industries (NASDAQ:RFIL)

Towerstream (OTCMKTS:TWER) and RF Industries (NASDAQ:RFIL) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Towerstream and RF Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Towerstream	N/A	N/A	N/A
RF Industries	-1.95%	1.63%	0.78%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.5% of RF Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Towerstream shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of RF Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Towerstream and RF Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Towerstream	0	0	0	0	0.00
RF Industries	0	0	1	0	3.00

RF Industries has a consensus price target of $4.50, suggesting a potential downside of 35.99%. Given Towerstream’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Towerstream is more favorable than RF Industries.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Towerstream and RF Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Towerstream	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
RF Industries	$64.86 million	1.16	-$6.60 million	($0.13)	-54.08

Towerstream has higher earnings, but lower revenue than RF Industries.

Risk & Volatility

Towerstream has a beta of -568.14, meaning that its share price is 56,914% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RF Industries has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RF Industries beats Towerstream on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Towerstream

Towerstream Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed wireless broadband services over a wireless network transmitting over regulated and unregulated radio spectrum to commercial customers in the United States. Its wireless broadband service supports bandwidth on demand, wireless redundancy, virtual private networks, disaster recovery, bundled data, and video services. The company also offers business class Internet services, such as single tenant service that delivers fixed wireless broadband to a single client through a radio receiver/transmitter on the client’s building dedicated solely to that client; and on-net services to connect building at once and at a cost similar for one high bandwidth customer requiring point-to-point equipment. In addition, it provides temporary Internet solutions to provide solutions for a client’s short-term connection requirements in locations where fiber, copper, and cable infrastructure does not exist or is cost prohibitive. Further, the company offers wholesale Internet services to deliver dedicated Internet access and point-to-point transport solutions with bandwidth options from 5Mbps to 10mbps through fixed wireless network. It serves business customers in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Philadelphia, Las Vegas-Reno, and Providence-Newport. The company offers its services through direct sales force. Towerstream Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Middletown, Rhode Island.

About RF Industries

RF Industries, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets interconnect products and systems in the United States, Canada, Italy, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, RF Connector and Cable Assembly, and Custom Cabling Manufacturing and Assembly. The company designs, manufactures, and distributes various coaxial connectors and cable assemblies that are integrated with coaxial connectors; custom copper and fiber cable assemblies, complex hybrid fiber optic and power solution cables, adapters, and electromechanical wiring harnesses for communication, computer, LAN, automotive, and medical equipment; energy-efficient cooling systems for wireless base stations and remote equipment shelters; and custom-designed pole-ready 5G small cell integrated enclosures. It also designs and manufactures cable assemblies and wiring harnesses for blue chip industrial, oilfield, instrumentation, medical, and military customers; connectivity solutions to telecommunications and data communications distributors; thermal control systems; and radio frequency and microwave distribution system products, such as dividers, directional couplers, and filters. The company sells its products through warehousing distributors and in-house marketing and sales team. It serves telecommunications carriers and equipment manufacturers, wireless and network infrastructure carriers, and original equipment manufacturers. The company was formerly known as Celltronics, Inc. and changed its name RF Industries, Ltd. in November 1990. RF Industries, Ltd. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.