Northern Technologies International (NTIC) Competitors

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) and Northern Technologies International (NASDAQ:NTIC) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, media sentiment and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, AZZ or NTIC?

AZZ has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northern Technologies International has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, AZZ or NTIC?

AZZ has higher revenue and earnings than Northern Technologies International. Northern Technologies International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AZZ, 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
AZZ	$1.54B	1.60	$101.61M	$1.07	76.91
Northern Technologies International	$79.90M	1.61	$2.91M	$0.46	29.61

Is AZZ or NTIC a better dividend stock?

AZZ pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Northern Technologies International pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. AZZ pays out 63.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northern Technologies International pays out 60.9% 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. Northern Technologies International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to AZZ or NTIC?

In the previous week, AZZ had 12 more articles in the media than Northern Technologies International. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for AZZ and 3 mentions for Northern Technologies International. AZZ's average media sentiment score of 0.22 beat Northern Technologies International's score of 0.20 indicating that Northern Technologies International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AZZ	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Northern Technologies International	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer AZZ or NTIC?

AZZ currently has a consensus target price of $95.80, indicating a potential upside of 16.42%. Northern Technologies International has a consensus target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.84%. Given AZZ's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Northern Technologies International is more favorable than AZZ.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AZZ	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Northern Technologies International	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is AZZ or NTIC more profitable?

AZZ has a net margin of 7.22% compared to AZZ's net margin of 5.48%. Northern Technologies International's return on equity of 17.08% beat AZZ's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AZZ	7.22%	17.08%	6.50%
Northern Technologies International	5.48%	5.83%	4.70%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AZZ or NTIC?

AZZ received 118 more outperform votes than Northern Technologies International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.19% of users gave AZZ an outperform vote while only 51.72% of users gave Northern Technologies International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AZZ	Outperform Votes 298 55.19%	Underperform Votes 242 44.81%
Northern Technologies International	Outperform Votes 180 51.72%	Underperform Votes 168 48.28%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AZZ or NTIC?

90.9% of AZZ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.9% of Northern Technologies International shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of AZZ shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.1% of Northern Technologies International shares are held 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.

Summary

AZZ beats Northern Technologies International on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.