Kadant (KAI) Competitors

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

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, KAI or FELE?

Franklin Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Kadant. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kadant, 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
Kadant	$1.05B	3.66	$111.60M	$8.98	36.41
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.11	$180.31M	$3.87	24.74

Is KAI or FELE more profitable?

Kadant has a net margin of 10.34% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.71%. Franklin Electric's return on equity of 14.05% beat Kadant's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kadant	10.34%	12.62%	7.66%
Franklin Electric	8.71%	14.05%	9.47%

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

96.1% of Kadant shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Kadant shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, KAI or FELE?

Kadant has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer KAI or FELE?

In the previous week, Kadant had 4 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Kadant and 11 mentions for Franklin Electric. Kadant's average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat Franklin Electric's score of 1.34 indicating that Kadant is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kadant	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 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)	Positive

Is KAI or FELE a better dividend stock?

Kadant pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Kadant pays out 15.1% 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. Kadant has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and 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.

Do analysts prefer KAI or FELE?

Kadant currently has a consensus price target of $340.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.99%. Franklin Electric has a consensus price target of $107.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.74%. Given Franklin Electric's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than Kadant.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kadant	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

Kadant beats Franklin Electric on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.