Head-To-Head Review: GEA Group (OTCMKTS:GEAGF) and Twin Disc (NASDAQ:TWIN)

Twin Disc (NASDAQ:TWIN) and GEA Group (OTCMKTS:GEAGF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Twin Disc and GEA Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Twin Disc	9.06%	6.78%	3.31%
GEA Group	7.70%	18.21%	7.52%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Twin Disc and GEA Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Twin Disc	$381.27 million	1.01	$27.08 million	$2.38	11.11
GEA Group	$6.22 billion	1.85	$468.41 million	$2.42	29.12

GEA Group has higher revenue and earnings than Twin Disc. Twin Disc is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GEA Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.2% of Twin Disc shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.1% of Twin Disc shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Twin Disc has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GEA Group has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Twin Disc and GEA Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Twin Disc	0	2	1	0	2.33
GEA Group	0	1	0	1	3.00

Twin Disc presently has a consensus target price of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.49%. Given Twin Disc’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Twin Disc is more favorable than GEA Group.

Summary

GEA Group beats Twin Disc on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Twin Disc

Twin Disc, Incorporated engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of marine and heavy duty off-highway power transmission equipment in the United States, the Netherlands, China, Australia, Italy, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Manufacturing and Distribution. Its principal products include marine transmissions, azimuth drives, surface drives, propellers, and boat management systems, as well as power-shift transmissions, hydraulic torque converters, power take-offs, industrial clutches, and controls systems. The company also provides third-party manufactured products. It sells its products through a direct sales force and distributor network to customers primarily in the pleasure craft, commercial marine, patrol, and military marine markets, as well as in the energy and natural resources, government, agriculture, recycling, construction, oil and gas, and industrial markets. The company was incorporated in 1918 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About GEA Group

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft engages in the development and production of systems and components to the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. It operates through Separation & Flow Technologies, Liquid & Power Technologies, Food & Health Technologies, Farm Technologies, and Heating & Refrigeration Technologies segments. The Separation & Flow Technologies segment manufacture process-related components and machinery including notably separators, decanters, homogenizers, valves, and pumps. The Liquid & Power Technologies segment offers brewing systems, liquid processing and filling, concentration, precision fermentation, crystallization, purification, drying, powder handling, and packaging, as well as systems for emission control for dairy, beverage, food, chemical, and other industries. The Food & Health Technologies segment engages in the preparation, marination, and processing of meat, poultry, seafood, and vegan products, pasta and confectionery products, baking, slicing, packaging, and frozen food processing for food processing industry; and provides tablet presses for pharmaceutical industry. The Farm Technologies segment offers customer solution for milk production and livestock farming, which includes automatic milking and feeding system, conventional milking solutions, manure handling, and digital herd management tool. The Heating & Refrigeration Technologies segment provides energy solution in the field of industrial refrigeration and heating for an array of industries including food, beverage, dairy, and oil and gas. The company was formerly known as mg technologies ag and changed its name to GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft in 2005. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.