Contrasting Atlas Copco (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) & Generac (NYSE:GNRC)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Atlas Copco and Generac, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlas Copco	1	2	3	0	2.33
Generac	0	6	15	0	2.71

Generac has a consensus target price of $192.11, indicating a potential upside of 36.32%. Given Generac’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Generac is more favorable than Atlas Copco.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Atlas Copco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Generac shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Atlas Copco and Generac”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlas Copco	$16.72 billion	5.29	$2.82 billion	$0.56	32.41
Generac	$4.30 billion	1.93	$325.26 million	$5.25	26.84

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

Volatility & Risk

Atlas Copco has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Generac has a beta of 1.82, meaning that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Atlas Copco and Generac’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlas Copco	16.08%	25.42%	13.46%
Generac	6.92%	17.63%	8.50%

About Atlas Copco

Atlas Copco AB provides compressed air and gas, vacuum, energy, dewatering and industrial pump, industrial power tool, and assembly and machine vision solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Compressor Technique, Vacuum Technique, Industrial Technique, and Power Technique segments. The company offers piston compressors, oil-free tooth and scroll compressors, rotary screw compressors, oil-free blowers, oil-free centrifugal compressors, gas and process compressors, air and gas treatment equipment, expanders and pumps, and medical air solutions. It also provides oil-sealed rotary vane, dry, and liquid ring vacuum pumps; turbomolecular and cryogenic pumps; abatement and integrated systems; industrial assembly tools and solutions; self-pierce riveting solutions; adhesive dispensing and flow drill fastening equipment; material removal tools, and drills and other pneumatic products; machine vision solutions; construction and demolition tools; mobile compressors, generators, and energy storage systems; and industrial flow, portable power, portable flow, and portable air products, as well as specialty rental services. The company serves the semiconductor and flat panel, industrial manufacturing, civil engineering, demolition, exploration drilling, automotive, off-highway vehicles, electronics, aerospace, energy, food, pharmaceutical, textile, and other industries. Atlas Copco AB was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Nacka, Sweden.

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.