Federal Screw Works (OTCMKTS:FSCR) versus Smith-Midland (NASDAQ:SMID) Head-To-Head Analysis

Smith-Midland (NASDAQ:SMID) and Federal Screw Works (OTCMKTS:FSCR) are both small-cap materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smith-Midland and Federal Screw Works”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smith-Midland	$93.40 million	1.42	$12.51 million	$1.45	17.31
Federal Screw Works	$97.55 million	0.10	$1.62 million	$0.71	10.06

Smith-Midland has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Federal Screw Works. Federal Screw Works is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smith-Midland, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Smith-Midland and Federal Screw Works’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smith-Midland	8.59%	14.06%	8.75%
Federal Screw Works	0.99%	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Smith-Midland has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Screw Works has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.9% of Smith-Midland shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Smith-Midland shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 46.2% of Federal Screw Works shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Smith-Midland and Federal Screw Works, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smith-Midland	0	1	0	0	2.00
Federal Screw Works	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

Smith-Midland beats Federal Screw Works on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smith-Midland

Smith-Midland Corporation invents, develops, manufactures, markets, leases, licenses, sells, and installs precast concrete products and systems in the United States. It offers SlenderWall lightweight construction panel, lightweight exterior cladding used for the exterior walls of buildings; Sierra Wall that provides sound and sight barrier for use alongside highways around residential, industrial, and commercial properties; J-J Hooks highway safety barriers, used on roadways to separate lanes of traffic in construction work zone or traffic control purposes; Easi-Set precast building and Easi-Span expandable precast buildings, used in housing communications operations, traffic control systems, and mechanical and electrical stations; Easi-Set utility, vaults for house equipment, such as cable, telephone, or traffic signal equipment, and for underground storage, as well as custom-built utility vaults for special needs; SoftSound soundwall panels, it absorb highway noise; Beach Prisms erosion control modules for seawalls and jetties; and H2Out secondary drainage systems for panelized exterior cladding. It licenses its proprietary products in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Mexico, and Trinidad. The company markets its products through in-house sales force and independent sales representatives to contractors performing public and private construction contracts, such as construction of commercial buildings, public and private roads and highways, airports, and municipal utilities; and federal, state, and local transportation authorities. It serves its products to construction, highway, utilities, and farming industries. Smith-Midland Corporation was founded in 1960 and is based in Midland, Virginia.

About Federal Screw Works

Federal Screw Works manufactures and sells industrial component parts primarily to the automobile industry in the United States. It operates through Big Rapids, Romulus, Traverse City, and Novex Tool divisions. The company offers cold formed and machined pins, including piston pins, planetary and differential gear shafts, and oil pump and steering shafts for the automotive, refrigeration, and small engine industries; and cold formed machined products, such as suspension ball studs, fluid line adapters, and precision formed and machined valve lifter bodies to the automotive industry. It also provides close tolerance machined products that are used in transmission valves, ball joints, steering gear bulkhead assemblies, torque converter hubs, and piston pins; and engineered nut products comprising prevailing torque nuts, free spinning nuts, slotted nuts, nut retainer assemblies, and nut washer assemblies to the automotive industry. In addition, the company offers cold form tooling products, which include assemblies, sleeves, dies, and punches; and complex cold formed parts, such as tie rod housings, valve lifter bodies, and suspension components. Federal Screw Works was founded in 1917 and is based in Romulus, Michigan.