Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS – Get Free Report) and Acorn Energy (NASDAQ:ACFN – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares Littelfuse and Acorn Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Littelfuse | 1.37% | 15.86% | 10.16% |
| Acorn Energy | 23.04% | 17.04% | 10.55% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Littelfuse and Acorn Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Littelfuse | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.00 |
| Acorn Energy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Littelfuse currently has a consensus price target of $465.83, indicating a potential upside of 30.96%. Given Littelfuse’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Littelfuse is more favorable than Acorn Energy.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
96.1% of Littelfuse shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Littelfuse shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 35.6% of Acorn Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Littelfuse and Acorn Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Littelfuse | $2.39 billion | 3.79 | -$71.70 million | $1.22 | 291.57 |
| Acorn Energy | $11.48 million | 3.20 | $2.51 million | $0.88 | 16.62 |
Acorn Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Littelfuse. Acorn Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Littelfuse, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Littelfuse has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acorn Energy has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Littelfuse beats Acorn Energy on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Littelfuse
Littelfuse, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors. This segment serves industrial motor drives and power conversion, automotive electronics, electric vehicle and related charging infrastructure, aerospace, power supplies, data centers, telecommunications, medical devices, alternative energy, building and home automation, appliances, and mobile electronics markets. The Transportation segment provides blade, resettable, and high-current and high-voltage fuses, as well as battery cable protectors; fuses, switches, relays, circuit breakers, and power distribution modules; and sensor products. This segment serves heavy-duty truck, construction, agriculture, material handling, and marine. The Industrial segment offers industrial fuses, protection relays, contactors, transformers, residual current devices, ground fault circuit interrupters, residual current monitors, arc fault detection devices, and temperature sensors for use in renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle infrastructure, HVAC systems, industrial safety, non-residential construction, MRO, mining, and factory automation. It sells its products through distributors, direct sales force, and manufacturers' representatives. Littelfuse, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
About Acorn Energy
Acorn Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and markets wireless remote monitoring and control systems for various markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Power Generation (PG) Monitoring and Cathodic Protection (CP) Monitoring. The PG segment provides wireless remote monitoring and control systems, and services for critical assets, which include stand-by power generators, compressors, pumps, pumpjacks, light towers, turbines, and other industrial equipment; and Internet of Things applications. The CP segment offers remote monitoring of cathodic protection systems on gas pipelines for gas utilities and pipeline companies. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.
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