Comparing THK (OTCMKTS:THKLY) & Wabash National (NYSE:WNC)

THK (OTCMKTS:THKLY) and Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for THK and Wabash National, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
THK	0	1	0	0	2.00
Wabash National	1	1	2	0	2.25

Wabash National has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.95%. Given Wabash National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Wabash National is more favorable than THK.

Volatility and Risk

THK has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wabash National has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares THK and Wabash National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
THK	N/A	N/A	N/A
Wabash National	-5.48%	-36.59%	-10.27%

Dividends

THK pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Wabash National pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. THK pays out 160.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Wabash National pays out -16.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wabash National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares THK and Wabash National”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
THK	$1.61 billion	3.45	-$468.27 million	$0.30	77.57
Wabash National	$1.54 billion	0.34	$211.45 million	($1.93)	-6.71

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.0% of Wabash National shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Wabash National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Wabash National beats THK on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About THK

THK Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of mechanical components worldwide. The company provides linear motion (LM) guides, ball screws, ball splines, LM guide actuators, cross roller rings/ double row angular contact ring, electric actuators, linear motor actuators, cam followers, roller followers, linear bushes, LM strokes, slide packs, slide rails, cross roller guides and tables, linear ball slides, LM and flat rollers, spline nuts, screw nuts, change nuts, precision linear packs, link balls, rod ends, spherical plain bearings, lubrication accessories, and seismic isolation products. Its products are used in various applications, including machine tools, general industrial machinery, precision instruments, semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment, industrial robots, electronic devices, and transport systems, as well as in construction, aerospace, medical and assistive, and other manufacturing industries. The company was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Wabash National

Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.