Head to Head Contrast: Scope Industries (OTCMKTS:SCPJ) vs. Fuel Tech (NASDAQ:FTEK)

Fuel Tech (NASDAQ:FTEK) and Scope Industries (OTCMKTS:SCPJ) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fuel Tech and Scope Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fuel Tech	$25.13 million	1.68	-$1.94 million	($0.09)	-15.11
Scope Industries	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Scope Industries has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Fuel Tech.

Profitability

This table compares Fuel Tech and Scope Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fuel Tech	-12.17%	-7.29%	-6.32%
Scope Industries	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.9% of Fuel Tech shares are held by institutional investors. 10.0% of Fuel Tech shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 68.1% of Scope Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Fuel Tech has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scope Industries has a beta of -0.54, indicating that its share price is 154% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Fuel Tech and Scope Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fuel Tech	1	0	1	0	2.00
Scope Industries	0	0	0	0	0.00

Fuel Tech currently has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 194.12%. Given Fuel Tech’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Fuel Tech is more favorable than Scope Industries.

Summary

Fuel Tech beats Scope Industries on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fuel Tech

Fuel Tech, Inc. provides boiler optimization, efficiency improvement, and air pollution reduction and control solutions to utility and industrial customers worldwide. The company operates through Air Pollution Control Technology and FUEL CHEM Technology segments. The Air Pollution Control Technology segment offers technologies to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in flue gas from boilers, incinerators, furnaces, and other stationary combustion sources; NOxOUT and HERT selective non-catalytic reduction systems; selective catalytic reduction systems comprising ammonia injection grid, and graduated straightening grid systems; I-NOx systems; ESP Processes and Services; ULTRA technology; and flue gas conditioning systems. The FUEL CHEM Technology segment provides programs to improve the efficiency, reliability, fuel flexibility, boiler heat rate, and environmental status of combustion units by controlling slagging, fouling, corrosion, opacity, and acid plume, as well as the formation of sulfur trioxide, ammonium bisulfate, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide through the addition of chemicals into the furnace using TIFI targeted in-furnace injection technology. This segment offers its FUEL CHEM program for plants operating in the electric utility, industrial, pulp and paper, waste-to-energy, and university and district heating markets; and the owners of boilers, furnaces, and other combustion units. Fuel Tech, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Warrenville, Illinois.

About Scope Industries

Scope Industries offers waste material recycling services in the United States. It operates plants for the collection and processing of bakery waste materials into a food supplement for animals. The company sells this food supplement to poultry farms, dairies, feed lots, and pet food manufacturers. Scope Industries also owns and operates a plant in Vernon, California, where certain bakery waste material is processed and converted into edible breadcrumbs for human consumption. The company's customers include prepackaged and restaurant supply food processors. Scope Industries was organized in 1938 and its principal executive offices are located in Santa Monica, California. Scope Industries sold all of the outstanding shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Scope Beauty Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Marinello Schools of Beauty, to B & H Education, Inc. in March 2004.