Cognex (CGNX) Competitors

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) and Coherent (NYSE:COHR) are both electronic equipment & instruments companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Which has more volatility and risk, CGNX or COHR?

Cognex has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Coherent has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CGNX or COHR?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cognex	$914.52M	5.65	$106.17M	$0.68	45.26
Coherent	$4.71B	2.83	-$156.15M	-$0.23	-372.87

Is CGNX or COHR more profitable?

Cognex has a net margin of 12.80% compared to Coherent's net margin of 1.73%. Coherent's return on equity of 9.07% beat Cognex's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cognex	12.80%	6.37%	4.81%
Coherent	1.73%	9.07%	3.56%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of CGNX or COHR?

88.1% of Cognex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Coherent shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Cognex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Coherent shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer CGNX or COHR?

Cognex currently has a consensus price target of $39.17, suggesting a potential upside of 27.25%. Coherent has a consensus price target of $103.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.10%. Given Cognex's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cognex is more favorable than Coherent.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cognex	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Coherent	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor CGNX or COHR?

In the previous week, Coherent had 2 more articles in the media than Cognex. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Coherent and 6 mentions for Cognex. Cognex's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Coherent's score of 0.27 indicating that Cognex is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cognex	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Coherent	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Cognex beats Coherent on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.