Comparing Horiba (OTCMKTS:HRIBF) and Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC)

Horiba (OTCMKTS:HRIBF) and Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Horiba and Global Industrial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Horiba	11.36%	12.32%	8.05%
Global Industrial	5.11%	22.85%	12.11%

Risk & Volatility

Horiba has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Industrial has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Horiba and Global Industrial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Horiba	$2.10 billion	2.05	$221.71 million	$5.98	17.17
Global Industrial	$1.32 billion	0.90	$61.00 million	$1.75	17.64

Horiba has higher revenue and earnings than Global Industrial. Horiba is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Global Industrial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Horiba and Global Industrial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Horiba	0	0	0	0	0.00
Global Industrial	0	2	0	0	2.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.2% of Global Industrial shares are owned by institutional investors. 64.2% of Global Industrial shares are owned by 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.

Summary

Global Industrial beats Horiba on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Horiba

HORIBA, Ltd. manufactures and sells instruments and systems worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Automotive, Environment/Process, Medical, Semiconductor, and Scientific. The Automotive segment offers engine emission measurement devices; in-use vehicle emission measurement devices; on-board emission measurement devices; in-vehicle exhaust gas measuring devices; driveline test systems; engine test systems; brake test systems; fuel cell test devices; battery test devices; and vehicle development engineering and test engineering services, as well as leases and manages research and development facilities. The Environment/Process segment provides flue gas analyzers, water quality measuring devices, air pollution monitoring analyzers, environmental radiation measuring instruments, and process measurement equipment. The Medical segment offers hematology and CRP, immunology, clinical chemistry, and blood glucose analyzers, blood cell counters, biochemical testing devices, blood glucose testing devices, as well as coagulation/hemostasis analyzers. The Semiconductor segment provides mass flow controllers, chemical concentration monitors, semiconductor contaminant inspection equipment, and residual gas analyzer. The Scientific segment offers Raman spectrometers, pH meters, water quality measuring devices, particle size distribution measuring devices, X -ray fluorescence analyzers, elemental analyzers, fluorescence spectroscopy/lifetime measurement devices, spectrometer/detectors, and gratings. It also engages in the fund management, software development, and automation software for engine. The company’s products are used in arts, entertainment, and recreation; education, research and development, and government institution; food and beverage; energy and environment; health care; industrials; information technology; water; materials; mobility and transport; and waste management applications. HORIBA, Ltd. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.

About Global Industrial

Global Industrial Company operates as an industrial distributor of various industrial and maintenance, repair, and operation (MRO) products in North America. It offers storage and shelving, safety and security, carts and trucks, HVAC and fans, furniture and decor, material handling, janitorial and facility maintenance, workbenches and shop desks, tools and instruments, plumbing and pumps, office and school supplies, packaging and shipping, lighting and electrical, foodservice and retail, medical and laboratory, motors and power transmission, building supplies, machining, fasteners and hardware, vehicle maintenance, and raw materials. The company offers industrial and MRO products under the Global, GlobalIndustrial.com, Nexel, Paramount, Interion, and Absocold trademarks. It serves businesses; state, local, and private educational organizations; and government entities through relationship marketers, e-commerce sites, signature campaigns, and catalogs. The company was formerly known as Systemax Inc. Global Industrial Company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Port Washington, New York.