PRLB vs. MWA, KAI, AIN, SXI, KMT, TNC, TRS, GRC, HY, and ERII
Should you be buying Proto Labs stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Proto Labs include Mueller Water Products (MWA), Kadant (KAI), Albany International (AIN), Standex International (SXI), Kennametal (KMT), Tennant (TNC), TriMas (TRS), Gorman-Rupp (GRC), Hyster-Yale (HY), and Energy Recovery (ERII). These companies are all part of the "industrial machinery" industry.
Proto Labs vs. Its Competitors
Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) and Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and media sentiment.
Mueller Water Products has a net margin of 10.48% compared to Proto Labs' net margin of 2.99%. Mueller Water Products' return on equity of 21.31% beat Proto Labs' return on equity.
Proto Labs has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Water Products has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.
84.5% of Proto Labs shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.7% of Mueller Water Products shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Proto Labs shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Mueller Water Products shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Mueller Water Products has higher revenue and earnings than Proto Labs. Mueller Water Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Proto Labs, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, Mueller Water Products had 9 more articles in the media than Proto Labs. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Mueller Water Products and 5 mentions for Proto Labs. Mueller Water Products' average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Proto Labs' score of 0.24 indicating that Mueller Water Products is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Proto Labs currently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.50%. Mueller Water Products has a consensus price target of $26.25, indicating a potential upside of 3.75%. Given Proto Labs' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Proto Labs is more favorable than Mueller Water Products.
Summary
Mueller Water Products beats Proto Labs on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding PRLB and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE 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.
Proto Labs Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:PRLB) was last updated on 7/10/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
