Head to Head Analysis: ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) & Aebi Schmidt (NASDAQ:AEBI)

Aebi Schmidt (NASDAQ:AEBI) and ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 39.1% of Aebi Schmidt shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Aebi Schmidt has a beta of 2.43, meaning that its stock price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ESCO Technologies has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Aebi Schmidt and ESCO Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aebi Schmidt	0	1	2	0	2.67
ESCO Technologies	0	1	3	1	3.00

Aebi Schmidt presently has a consensus target price of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 57.70%. ESCO Technologies has a consensus target price of $416.50, suggesting a potential upside of 56.56%. Given Aebi Schmidt’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Aebi Schmidt is more favorable than ESCO Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Aebi Schmidt and ESCO Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aebi Schmidt	1.09%	2.59%	1.04%
ESCO Technologies	24.39%	13.28%	8.69%

Dividends

Aebi Schmidt pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. ESCO Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Aebi Schmidt pays out 31.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ESCO Technologies pays out 2.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aebi Schmidt and ESCO Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aebi Schmidt	$1.53 billion	0.55	$9.74 million	$0.32	33.69
ESCO Technologies	$1.10 billion	6.29	$299.22 million	$12.14	21.91

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

Summary

ESCO Technologies beats Aebi Schmidt on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aebi Schmidt

Aebi Schmidt Holding AG is a provider of mission-critical infrastructure, environmental and agricultural solutions. Aebi Schmidt Holding AG, formerly known as The Shyft Group Inc., is based in NOVI, Mich.

About ESCO Technologies

ESCO Technologies Inc. produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines. It also designs, develops, and manufactures elastomeric-based signature reduction solutions for U.S. naval vessels; and mission-critical bushings, pins, sleeves, and precision-tolerance machined components for landing gear, rotor heads, engine mounts, flight controls, and actuation systems for the aerospace and defense industries. The Utility Solutions Group segment provides diagnostic testing solutions that enable electric power grid operators to assess the integrity of high-voltage power delivery equipment; and decision support tools for the renewable energy industry, primarily wind and solar. The RF Test & Measurement segment designs and manufactures RF test and secure communication facilities, acoustic test enclosures, RF and magnetically shielded rooms, RF measurement systems, and broadcast and recording studios; and RF absorptive materials, filters, antennas, field probes, test cells, proprietary measurement software, and other test accessories to perform various tests. The company distributes its products through a network of distributors, sales representatives, direct sales teams, and in-house sales personnel. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.