Comparing Shoals Technologies Group (NASDAQ:SHLS) & Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK)

Shoals Technologies Group (NASDAQ:SHLS) and Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Shoals Technologies Group and Rockwell Automation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shoals Technologies Group	0	7	11	0	2.61
Rockwell Automation	0	13	9	0	2.41

Shoals Technologies Group currently has a consensus target price of $10.80, suggesting a potential upside of 44.58%. Rockwell Automation has a consensus target price of $468.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.53%. Given Shoals Technologies Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Shoals Technologies Group is more favorable than Rockwell Automation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Shoals Technologies Group and Rockwell Automation”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shoals Technologies Group	$475.33 million	2.64	$33.57 million	$0.19	39.32
Rockwell Automation	$8.34 billion	5.69	$869.00 million	$10.67	40.05

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.7% of Rockwell Automation shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Shoals Technologies Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Rockwell Automation shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Shoals Technologies Group has a beta of 1.85, meaning that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rockwell Automation has a beta of 1.51, meaning that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Shoals Technologies Group and Rockwell Automation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shoals Technologies Group	5.41%	10.07%	6.38%
Rockwell Automation	13.39%	39.83%	12.97%

Summary

Rockwell Automation beats Shoals Technologies Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shoals Technologies Group

Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. provides electrical balance of system (EBOS) solutions and components for solar, battery energy, and electric vehicle (EV) charging applications in the United States and internationally. The company designs, manufactures, and sells system solutions for both homerun and combine-as-you-go wiring architectures, as well as offers technical support services. It provides EBOS components, including combiners; plug-n-play branch connectors and inline fuses; AC disconnects; recombiners; wireless monitoring; junction boxes; wire management; EV power cabinets; and battery energy storage systems cabinets, as well as cable assemblies, transition enclosures, and splice boxes. In addition, the company offers eMobility solutions, such as a power center, which combines equipment needed to protect the charging equipment and transform voltage levels from the electric utility to those needed on the respective site; quick connect solutions for chargers to connect to the Shoals system; big lead assembly (BLA) technology in the EV space to connect multiple chargers to a single power center; and a raceway system that protects the above ground EV BLAs in walk over and drive over applications. Further, it provides Snapshot IV, a solar operations and maintenance solution that monitors the specific voltage and current of individual solar panels and compares the results against the manufacturer's projected performance. The company sells its products to engineering, procurement, and construction firms that build solar energy projects; utilities; solar developers, independent power producers; solar module manufacturers; and charge point operators. Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Portland, Tennessee.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc. provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services. The Intelligent Devices segment offers drives, motion, safety, sensing, industrial components, and configured-to-order products. The Software & Control segment provides control and visualization software and hardware, information software, and network and security infrastructure solutions. The Lifecycle Services segment provides consulting, professional services and solutions, and connected and maintenance services. The company sells its solutions primarily through independent distributors in relation with its direct sales force. It serves discrete end markets, including automotive, semiconductor, and warehousing and logistics, as well as general industries comprising printing and publishing, marine, glass, fiber and textiles, airports, and aerospace; hybrid end markets, such as food and beverage, life sciences, household and personal care, and tire, as well as eco industrial, including water/wastewater, waste management, mass transit, and renewable energy; and process end markets comprising oil and gas, mining, metals, chemicals, pulp and paper, and others. Rockwell Automation, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.