Helios Technologies (HLIO) Competitors

ITT (NYSE:ITT) and Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) are related companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in ITT or HLIO?

91.6% of ITT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.7% of Helios Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of ITT shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Helios Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ITT or HLIO a better dividend stock?

ITT pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Helios Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. ITT pays out 22.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Helios Technologies pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. ITT has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. ITT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, ITT or HLIO?

ITT has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Helios Technologies has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ITT or HLIO more profitable?

ITT has a net margin of 13.99% compared to Helios Technologies' net margin of 4.57%. ITT's return on equity of 18.08% beat Helios Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ITT	13.99%	18.08%	10.08%
Helios Technologies	4.57%	8.22%	4.50%

Does the media prefer ITT or HLIO?

In the previous week, ITT had 14 more articles in the media than Helios Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for ITT and 9 mentions for Helios Technologies. Helios Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat ITT's score of 1.54 indicating that Helios Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
ITT	20 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Helios Technologies	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts rate ITT or HLIO?

ITT currently has a consensus price target of $179.22, suggesting a potential upside of 3.90%. Helios Technologies has a consensus price target of $45.67, suggesting a potential downside of 16.46%. Given ITT's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ITT is more favorable than Helios Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ITT	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90
Helios Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ITT or HLIO?

ITT has higher revenue and earnings than Helios Technologies. ITT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Helios Technologies, 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
ITT	$3.63B	3.71	$518.30M	$6.36	27.12
Helios Technologies	$782M	2.32	$37.50M	$1.04	52.56

Summary

ITT beats Helios Technologies on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.