Critical Contrast: Capstone Cos. (OTCMKTS:CAPC) vs. Eastern (NASDAQ:EML)

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) and Capstone Cos. (OTCMKTS:CAPC) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eastern and Capstone Cos.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eastern	$272.75 million	0.40	-$8.53 million	$1.24	14.66
Capstone Cos.	$140,000.00	17.69	-$960,000.00	($0.01)	-4.99

Capstone Cos. has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Eastern. Capstone Cos. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eastern, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Eastern and Capstone Cos., as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eastern	0	1	0	0	2.00
Capstone Cos.	0	0	0	0	0.00

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.0% of Eastern shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Eastern shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 40.0% of Capstone Cos. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Eastern has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capstone Cos. has a beta of 0.09, meaning that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Eastern and Capstone Cos.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eastern	2.96%	7.18%	3.84%
Capstone Cos.	N/A	-63.19%	-23.61%

Summary

Eastern beats Capstone Cos. on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eastern

The Eastern Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered solutions to industrial markets in the United States and internationally. The company offers turnkey returnable packaging solutions, which are used in the assembly processes of vehicles, aircraft, and durable goods, as well as in production processes of plastic packaging products, packaged consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals; designs and manufactures blow mold tools and injection blow mold tooling products, and 2-step stretch blow molds and related components for the stretch blow molding industry; and supplies blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industries. It also provides rotary latches, compression latches, draw latches, hinges, camlocks, key switches, padlocks, and handles; and development and program management services for custom electromechanical and mechanical systems for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and customer applications. In addition, the company designs and manufactures proprietary vision technology for OEMs and aftermarket applications, as well as offers aftermarket components to the heavy- and medium-duty truck, motorhome, and bus markets. The Eastern Company was founded in 1858 and is based in Shelton, Connecticut.

About Capstone Cos.

Capstone Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of consumer products to simplify daily living through technology. The company offers Connected Chef, a purpose-built kitchen appliance tablet with an integrated platform for cooking accessories, such as cutting board, as well as Smart Mirrors. It sells its products through sales agents, as well as directly to home-goods chain retailers. The company was formerly known as CHDT Corporation and changed its name to Capstone Companies, Inc. in June 2012. Capstone Companies, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida.