Donaldson (DCI) Competitors

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) and Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Is FELE or DCI more profitable?

Donaldson has a net margin of 9.94% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.71%. Donaldson's return on equity of 29.50% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin Electric	8.71%	14.05%	9.47%
Donaldson	9.94%	29.50%	14.79%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in FELE or DCI?

80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Donaldson shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Donaldson shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor FELE or DCI?

In the previous week, Donaldson had 4 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Donaldson and 4 mentions for Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Donaldson's score of 0.66 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Franklin Electric	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Donaldson	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer FELE or DCI?

Franklin Electric presently has a consensus price target of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.73%. Donaldson has a consensus price target of $80.33, suggesting a potential downside of 2.00%. Given Franklin Electric's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than Donaldson.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Donaldson	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is FELE or DCI a better dividend stock?

Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Donaldson pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Donaldson pays out 39.3% 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. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Donaldson has increased its dividend for 38 consecutive years. Donaldson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, FELE or DCI?

Donaldson has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Donaldson, 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
Franklin Electric	$2.06B	2.03	$180.31M	$3.87	24.31
Donaldson	$3.69B	2.57	$367M	$3.05	26.88

Which has more risk and volatility, FELE or DCI?

Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Donaldson has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Donaldson beats Franklin Electric on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.