Alpha Pro Tech (NYSEAMERICAN:APT) and Invacare (NYSE:IVC) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.
Risk & Volatility
Alpha Pro Tech has a beta of -1.27, indicating that its share price is 227% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Invacare has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Alpha Pro Tech and Invacare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Alpha Pro Tech | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Invacare | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Alpha Pro Tech presently has a consensus price target of $32.50, suggesting a potential upside of 243.19%. Invacare has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 100.24%. Given Alpha Pro Tech's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Alpha Pro Tech is more favorable than Invacare.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
38.2% of Alpha Pro Tech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.7% of Invacare shares are held by institutional investors. 10.6% of Alpha Pro Tech shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Invacare shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Alpha Pro Tech and Invacare's top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Alpha Pro Tech | $46.67 million | 2.77 | $3 million | $0.23 | 41.39 |
| Invacare | $927.96 million | 0.31 | $-53,330,000.00 | ($1.06) | -7.95 |
Alpha Pro Tech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Invacare. Invacare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alpha Pro Tech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Alpha Pro Tech and Invacare's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Alpha Pro Tech | 23.65% | 45.69% | 36.95% |
| Invacare | -4.87% | -8.76% | -3.07% |
Summary
Alpha Pro Tech beats Invacare on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
