Analyzing Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) and Dialight (OTCMKTS:DIALF)

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) and Dialight (OTCMKTS:DIALF) are both manufacturing companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.7% of Daktronics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.8% of Dialight shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Daktronics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Daktronics and Dialight”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daktronics	$756.48 million	1.23	-$10.12 million	$0.13	147.00
Dialight	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.24	17.06

Dialight has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Daktronics. Dialight is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Daktronics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Daktronics and Dialight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daktronics	0.96%	15.42%	8.15%
Dialight	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Daktronics and Dialight, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daktronics	0	2	1	0	2.33
Dialight	0	0	1	0	3.00

Daktronics currently has a consensus price target of $26.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.05%. Given Daktronics’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Daktronics is more favorable than Dialight.

Summary

Daktronics beats Dialight on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments. The company also offers video display and walls; scoreboards and timing systems; LED message displays and sings; intelligent transportation systems dynamic message signs; mass transit display; sound systems; and digital billboards and street furniture, and digit and price displays. In addition, it provides indoor dynamic messaging systems and liquid crystal display signs; and software and controllers, which includes Venus, a control suite software to control the creation of messages and graphic sequences for uploading to displays. The company sells its products through direct sales and resellers. Daktronics, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota.

About Dialight

Dialight plc, together with its subsidiaries, primarily develops, manufactures, and supplies LED lighting solutions for use in hazardous and industrial applications in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company operates through Lighting and Signals & Components segments. It offers high and low bays, and high outputs; conveyor, street, area, and flood lights; LED linear fixtures, such as low profile/top conduit linear, stainless steel linear, glass reinforced polyester linear, battery backup linear, and NSF linear; and wallpacks/bulkheads products. In addition, the company provides provides lighting products for control systems and obstruction solutions. Further, it offers signals and components, such as panel mount and circuit board indicators; and traffic, vehicle, and rail products. Dialight plc serves energy, utilities, mining, industrial processing and manufacturing, structural, infrastructure, and other public sectors. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Farmingdale, New Jersey.