ESCO Technologies (ESE) Competitors

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) and Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Is ESE or FELE more profitable?

ESCO Technologies has a net margin of 10.37% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.71%. Franklin Electric's return on equity of 14.05% beat ESCO Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ESCO Technologies	10.37%	11.19%	7.12%
Franklin Electric	8.71%	14.05%	9.47%

Is ESE or FELE a better dividend stock?

ESCO Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. ESCO Technologies pays out 7.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin Electric pays out 27.4% 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 raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, ESE or FELE?

ESCO Technologies has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ESE or FELE?

ESCO Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $187.50, suggesting a potential downside of 9.98%. Franklin Electric has a consensus target price of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.07%. Given Franklin Electric's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than ESCO Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ESCO Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, ESE or FELE?

Franklin Electric has higher revenue and earnings than ESCO Technologies. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ESCO 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
ESCO Technologies	$1.03B	5.24	$101.88M	$4.44	46.91
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.08	$180.31M	$3.87	24.45

Does the media favor ESE or FELE?

In the previous week, ESCO Technologies and ESCO Technologies both had 11 articles in the media. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.68 beat ESCO Technologies' score of 1.21 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
ESCO Technologies	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Franklin Electric	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ESE or FELE?

95.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ESCO Technologies and Franklin Electric tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.