Financial Comparison: AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) and Eastman Kodak (NYSE:KODK)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE:KODK) and AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

33.6% of Eastman Kodak shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of AstroNova shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.3% of Eastman Kodak shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of AstroNova shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Eastman Kodak and AstroNova”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eastman Kodak	$1.07 billion	0.92	-$128.00 million	($1.39)	-7.21
AstroNova	$152.17 million	1.49	-$2.38 million	($0.18)	-160.78

AstroNova has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Eastman Kodak. AstroNova is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eastman Kodak, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Eastman Kodak and AstroNova’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eastman Kodak	-8.28%	-14.47%	-5.55%
AstroNova	-0.88%	2.94%	1.61%

Volatility and Risk

Eastman Kodak has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstroNova has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Eastman Kodak and AstroNova, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eastman Kodak	1	0	0	0	1.00
AstroNova	1	0	0	0	1.00

Summary

AstroNova beats Eastman Kodak on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eastman Kodak

Eastman Kodak Company engages in the provision of hardware, software, consumables, and services to customers in the commercial print, packaging, publishing, manufacturing, and entertainment markets worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Print, Advanced Materials and Chemicals, and Brand. The Print segment provides digital offset plate offerings and computer-to-plate imaging solutions; press systems and components under the PROSPER brand name, as well as print inks and primers under the KODAK OPTIMAX, KODACHROME, and KODAK EKTACOLOR brand names; and PRINERGY, a workflow production software, which is used by customers to manage digital and conventional print content from file creation to output. This segment offers its products to commercial industries, including commercial print, direct mail, book publishing, newspapers and magazines, décor, and packaging/labels. The Advanced Materials and Chemicals segment engages in industrial film and chemicals, motion picture, advanced materials and functional printing, and IP licensing and analytical activities. This segment also comprises the Kodak Research Laboratories, which conducts research, develops new product or new business opportunities, and files patent applications for its inventions and innovations, as well as manages licensing of its intellectual property to third parties. The Brand segment engages in the licensing of Kodak brand to third parties. The company is also involved in the operation of Eastman Business Park, a technology center and industrial complex. It sells its products and services through direct sales, third party resellers, dealers, channel partners, and distributors. The company was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.

About AstroNova

AstroNova, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes specialty printers, and data acquisition and analysis systems in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, Central and South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Product Identification (PI) and Test & Measurement (T&M). The PI segment offers tabletop and production-ready digital color label printers, and OEM printing systems under the QuickLabel brand; digital color label mini-presses and inline printing systems under the TrojanLabel brand; and label materials, tags material, inks, toners, and thermal transfer ribbions under the GetLabels brand. This segment also develops and licenses various specialized software programs to design and manage labels and print images; and provides training and support. This segment serves chemicals, cosmetics, food and beverage, medical products, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and other industries; and brand owners, label converters, commercial printers, and packaging manufacturers. The T&M segment offers airborne printing solutions, such as ToughWriter used to print hard copies of navigation maps, arrival and departure information, flight itineraries, weather maps, performance data, passenger data, and various air traffic control data; ToughSwitch, an ethernet switches used to connect multiple computers or Ethernet devices; TMX data acquisition systems; Daxus DXS-100 distributed data acquisition platform; SmartCorder DDX100 portable data acquisition systems for facility and field testing; and Everest EV-5000, a digital strip chart recording system used primarily in aerospace and defense. This segment serves aerospace and aerospace and defense, automotive, commercial airline, energy, manufacturing, and transportation industries. The company was formerly known as Astro-Med, Inc. and changed its name to AstroNova, Inc. in May 2016. AstroNova, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island.