Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) & MasterBrand (NYSE:MBC) Critical Comparison

MasterBrand (NYSE:MBC) and Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for MasterBrand and Hayward, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MasterBrand	1	0	0	0	1.00
Hayward	0	6	2	0	2.25

Hayward has a consensus target price of $17.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.40%. Given Hayward’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hayward is more favorable than MasterBrand.

Risk & Volatility

MasterBrand has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hayward has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MasterBrand and Hayward”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MasterBrand	$2.73 billion	0.68	$26.70 million	($0.69)	-13.24
Hayward	$1.12 billion	2.87	$151.57 million	$0.74	20.49

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

Profitability

This table compares MasterBrand and Hayward’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MasterBrand	-3.49%	3.65%	1.60%
Hayward	13.83%	11.61%	5.91%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.3% of MasterBrand shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of MasterBrand shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Hayward 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.

Summary

Hayward beats MasterBrand on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MasterBrand

MasterBrand, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of residential cabinets in the United States and Canada. The company offers a range of residential cabinetry products for the kitchen, bathroom, and other parts of the home. It sells its products to remodeling and new construction markets through dealers, retailers, and builders. The company was formerly known as United Cabinet Incorporated. MasterBrand, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio.

About Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pool equipment and associated automation systems in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers pool equipment, including pumps, filters, robotics, suction and pressure cleaners, gas heaters and heat pumps, water features and landscape lighting, water sanitizers, salt chlorine generators, safety equipment, and in-floor automated cleaning systems, as well as LED illumination solutions. It sells its products through specialty distributors, retailers, and buying groups. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.