Financial Analysis: Stoneridge (NYSE:SRI) and Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS)

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) and Stoneridge (NYSE:SRI) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Littelfuse has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stoneridge has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Littelfuse shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Stoneridge shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Littelfuse shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of Stoneridge shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Littelfuse and Stoneridge, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Littelfuse	1	1	4	0	2.50
Stoneridge	1	2	0	0	1.67

Littelfuse currently has a consensus price target of $465.83, suggesting a potential upside of 13.49%. Stoneridge has a consensus price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 126.47%. Given Stoneridge’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Stoneridge is more favorable than Littelfuse.

Profitability

This table compares Littelfuse and Stoneridge’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Littelfuse	-1.61%	11.62%	7.39%
Stoneridge	-15.24%	-22.50%	-8.17%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Littelfuse and Stoneridge”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	4.35	-$71.70 million	($1.69)	-242.88
Stoneridge	$861.26 million	0.23	-$102.83 million	($4.41)	-1.60

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

Summary

Littelfuse beats Stoneridge on 9 of the 14 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 Stoneridge

Stoneridge, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures engineered electrical and electronic systems, components, and modules for the automotive, commercial, off-highway, motorcycle, and agricultural vehicle markets in North America, South America, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Control Devices, Electronics, and Stoneridge Brazil. The Control Devices segment offers actuators, sensors, switches, actuators, and connectors that monitor, measure, or activate specific functions within a vehicle. The Electronics segment designs and manufactures driver information systems, vision and safety systems, connectivity and compliance products, and electronic control units. Its products collect, store, and display vehicle information, such as speed, pressure, maintenance data, trip information, operator performance, temperature, distance traveled, and driver messages related to vehicle performance. This segment also offers electronic control units that regulate, coordinate, monitor, and direct the operation of the electrical system within a vehicle. The Stoneridge Brazil segment designs, manufactures, and sells vehicle tracking devices and monitoring services; vehicle security alarms and convenience accessories, including parking sensors and rearview cameras; in-vehicle audio and infotainment devices; and driver information systems and telematics solutions. The company provides its products and systems to various original equipment manufacturers and tier 1 customers, as well as aftermarket distributors. Stoneridge, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Novi, Michigan.