MKSI vs. CGNX, ST, IPGP, MLAB, HURC, IEX, FTV, CACI, GLOB, and DBX
Should you be buying MKS Instruments stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of MKS Instruments include Cognex (CGNX), Sensata Technologies (ST), IPG Photonics (IPGP), Mesa Laboratories (MLAB), Hurco Companies (HURC), IDEX (IEX), Fortive (FTV), CACI International (CACI), Globant (GLOB), and Dropbox (DBX).
Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) and MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.
Cognex has higher earnings, but lower revenue than MKS Instruments. MKS Instruments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cognex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Cognex has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MKS Instruments has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.
88.1% of Cognex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of MKS Instruments shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Cognex shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of MKS Instruments shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, MKS Instruments had 1 more articles in the media than Cognex. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for MKS Instruments and 2 mentions for Cognex. MKS Instruments' average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Cognex's score of 0.00 indicating that Cognex is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Cognex pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. MKS Instruments pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cognex pays out 45.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MKS Instruments pays out -3.2% 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. Cognex has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years. MKS Instruments is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Cognex has a net margin of 13.52% compared to Cognex's net margin of -50.80%. Cognex's return on equity of 9.95% beat MKS Instruments' return on equity.
Cognex presently has a consensus target price of $47.70, indicating a potential upside of 23.29%. MKS Instruments has a consensus target price of $128.75, indicating a potential upside of 14.86%. Given MKS Instruments' higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cognex is more favorable than MKS Instruments.
MKS Instruments received 21 more outperform votes than Cognex when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.62% of users gave MKS Instruments an outperform vote while only 60.60% of users gave Cognex an outperform vote.
Summary
Cognex beats MKS Instruments on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get MKS Instruments News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for MKSI and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding MKSI and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart
MKS Instruments Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools