Critical Review: Standex International (NYSE:SXI) and Generac (NYSE:GNRC)

Standex International (NYSE:SXI) and Generac (NYSE:GNRC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Standex International and Generac, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standex International	0	0	5	0	3.00
Generac	0	6	13	0	2.68

Standex International currently has a consensus price target of $223.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.07%. Generac has a consensus price target of $174.56, suggesting a potential downside of 7.16%. Given Standex International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Standex International is more favorable than Generac.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Standex International and Generac”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standex International	$790.11 million	3.19	$55.76 million	$4.64	44.99
Generac	$4.30 billion	2.57	$325.26 million	$6.02	31.23

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.4% of Standex International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Standex International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Generac shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Standex International and Generac’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standex International	7.06%	13.92%	6.69%
Generac	7.91%	19.14%	9.19%

Volatility and Risk

Standex International has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Generac has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Generac beats Standex International on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Standex International

Standex International Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of various products and services for commercial and industrial markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Electronics, Engraving, Scientific, Engineering Technologies, and Specialty Solutions. The Electronics segment offers reed relays, fluid level, proximity, motion, flow, HVAC condensate, and custom electronics sensors; and custom wound transformers and inductors for low and high frequency, current sense technology, advanced planar transformer technology, value added assembly, and mechanical packaging applications under the Standex Electronics, Renco, and Agile Magnetics. The Engraving segment provides mold texturizing, slush molding tools, roll engraving, hygiene product tooling, and low observation vents, as well as project management and design services for stealth aircraft; and process machinery for various industries under the Piazza Rosa, World Client Services, Tenibac-Graphion, GS Engineering, and Innovent brand names. The Scientific segment offers temperature-controlled equipment for the medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, biotech, and industrial markets under the American BioTech Supply, Lab Research Products, Corepoint, Cryosafe, CryoGuard, and Scientific brands. The Engineering Technologies segment offers net and near net formed single-source customized solutions that are used in the manufacture of engineered components for the aviation, aerospace, defense, energy, industrial, medical, marine, oil and gas, and manned and unmanned space markets under the Spincraft brand. The Specialty Solutions segment manufactures and sells refrigerated, heated, and dry merchandizing display cases; and single and double acting telescopic, and piston rod hydraulic cylinders under the Federal and Custom Hoist brands. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes various energy technology products and solution worldwide. The company offers residential automatic standby generators, automatic transfer switch, air-cooled engine residential standby generators, and liquid-cooled engine generators; Mobile Link, a remote monitoring system for home standby generators; residential storage solution, which consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, photovoltaic optimizers, power electronic controls, and other components; smart home solutions, such as smart thermostats and a suite of home monitoring products. It also provides smart home energy management devices and sensors for heating and cooling system; smart doorbell cameras; and portable and inverter generators; multiple portable battery solutions; manual transfer switches; outdoor power equipment, including trimmers, field and brush mowers, log splitters, stump grinders, chipper shredders, lawn and leaf vacuums, and pressure washers and water pumps; and battery-powered turf care products. In addition, the company offers commercial and industrial products comprising cleaner-burning natural gas fueled generators; light-commercial standby generators and related transfer switches; stationary generators; single-engine industrial generators; industrial standby generators; industrial transfer switches; light towers, mobile generators, commercial mobile pumps, heaters, dust-suppression equipment, and mobile energy storage systems; stationary energy storage system and related inverter products; and aftermarket service parts and product accessories. The company distributes its products through independent residential dealers, industrial distributors and dealers, national and regional retailers, e-commerce partners, electrical/HVAC/solar wholesalers, solar installers, catalogs, equipment rental companies, and other equipment distributors; and directly to end users. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin.