Head to Head Comparison: Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) vs. LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT)

LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT) and Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for LiqTech International and Blue Bird, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiqTech International	1	1	1	0	2.00
Blue Bird	1	0	7	1	2.89

LiqTech International currently has a consensus price target of $1.30, indicating a potential upside of 195.19%. Blue Bird has a consensus price target of $85.33, indicating a potential upside of 49.63%. Given LiqTech International’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe LiqTech International is more favorable than Blue Bird.

Profitability

This table compares LiqTech International and Blue Bird’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiqTech International	-63.18%	-69.03%	-32.37%
Blue Bird	17.48%	39.97%	18.93%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.1% of LiqTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Blue Bird shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of LiqTech International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Blue Bird shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

LiqTech International has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blue Bird has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LiqTech International and Blue Bird”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiqTech International	$15.43 million	0.94	-$8.60 million	($0.84)	-0.52
Blue Bird	$1.61 billion	1.12	$127.72 million	$8.22	6.94

Blue Bird has higher revenue and earnings than LiqTech International. LiqTech International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Blue Bird, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Blue Bird beats LiqTech International on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiqTech International

LiqTech International, Inc., a clean technology company, designs, develops, produces, markets, and sells automated filtering systems, ceramic silicon carbide liquid applications, and diesel particulate air filters in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. The company operates through Water, Ceramics, and Plastics segments. It also manufactures and sells silicon carbide ceramic filtration technologies for liquid and gas purification; and diesel particulate filters for exhaust emission control solutions to the verified retrofit and the original equipment manufacturer market. In addition, the company develops, manufactures, and sells liquid filtration systems, which are used for the marine scrubber systems, filtration of produced water, industrial applications, pool and spa water, food and beverage application, and silicon carbide membrane technology. Further, it provides flexible and plastics manufacturing products for machining, welding, bending, and solvent cementing. LiqTech International, Inc. sells its products primarily to industrial customers through direct sales, systems integrators, distributors, agents, and partners. The company was formerly known as Blue Moose Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiqTech International, Inc. in October 2011. LiqTech International, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. It offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative power options through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines. The company also sells replacement bus parts; and provides financing services and extended warranties related to its products. Blue Bird Corporation sells its products through drop ship and a network of dealers, as well as directly to fleet operators, the United States government, and state governments; independent service centers; and maintains a parts distribution center. Blue Bird Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Macon, Georgia.