Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) and National Instruments (NASDAQ:NATI) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and profitability.
Dividends
Cognex pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. National Instruments pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cognex pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Instruments pays out 82.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cognex has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and National Instruments has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Cognex and National Instruments' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Cognex | $725.63 million | 20.87 | $203.87 million | $1.16 | 73.93 |
National Instruments | $1.35 billion | 4.35 | $162.15 million | $1.31 | 34.12 |
Cognex has higher earnings, but lower revenue than National Instruments. National Instruments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cognex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Cognex has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Instruments has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Cognex and National Instruments, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Cognex | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.22 |
National Instruments | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Cognex presently has a consensus target price of $72.3750, suggesting a potential downside of 15.61%. National Instruments has a consensus target price of $40.8333, suggesting a potential downside of 8.65%. Given National Instruments' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Instruments is more favorable than Cognex.
Profitability
This table compares Cognex and National Instruments' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Cognex | 24.72% | 13.45% | 9.64% |
National Instruments | 15.35% | 10.01% | 6.99% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
91.5% of Cognex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of National Instruments shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Cognex shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of National Instruments shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Cognex beats National Instruments on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.