Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE – Get Free Report) and Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares Franklin Electric and Greenbrier Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Franklin Electric | 7.06% | 15.18% | 10.13% |
| Greenbrier Companies | 4.07% | 6.49% | 2.55% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Franklin Electric and Greenbrier Companies, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Franklin Electric | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Greenbrier Companies | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.75 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.6% of Greenbrier Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Greenbrier Companies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Franklin Electric and Greenbrier Companies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Franklin Electric | $2.13 billion | 2.02 | $147.09 million | $3.47 | 28.12 |
| Greenbrier Companies | $3.24 billion | 0.37 | $204.10 million | $3.37 | 11.52 |
Greenbrier Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Electric. Greenbrier Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin Electric, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenbrier Companies has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Greenbrier Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Franklin Electric pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greenbrier Companies pays out 40.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Greenbrier Companies has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.
Summary
Franklin Electric beats Greenbrier Companies on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Franklin Electric
Franklin Electric Co., Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes water and fuel pumping systems worldwide. The company operates through Water Systems, Fueling Systems, and Distribution segments. The Water Systems segment offers submersible motors, drives, pumps, electronic controls, water treatment systems, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment. Its motors and pumps are used principally for pumping clean water and wastewater in various residential, agricultural, municipal, and industrial applications; and manufactures electronic drives and controls that are used in motors for controlling functionality, as well as provides protection from various hazards, such as electrical surges, over-heating, and dry wells or tanks. The Fueling Systems segment provides pumps, pipes, sumps, fittings, vapor recovery components, electronic controls, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in fueling system applications. This segment serves other energy markets, such as power reliability systems, as well as includes electronic devices for online monitoring of the power utility, hydroelectric, and telecommunication and data center infrastructure. The Distribution segment sells to and provides presale support and specifications to the installing contractors. It sells products produced by the Water Systems segment. The company sells its products to wholesale and retail distributors, specialty distributors, original equipment manufacturers, industrial and petroleum equipment distributors, and oil and utility companies through its employee sales force and independent manufacturing representatives. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
About Greenbrier Companies
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets railroad freight car equipment in North America, Europe, and South America. It operates through three segments: Manufacturing; Maintenance Services; and Leasing & Management Services. The Manufacturing segment offers covered hopper cars, gondolas, open top hoppers, boxcars, center partition cars, tank cars, sustainable conversions, double-stack railcars, auto-max ii, multi-max, and multi-max plus products, intermodal cars, automobile transport, coil steel and metals, flat cars, sliding wall cars, pressurized tank cars, and non-pressurized tank cars. The Maintenance Services segment provides wheel services, including reconditioning of wheels and axles, new axle machining and finishing, and downsizing; operates a railcar repair, refurbishment, and maintenance network; and reconditions and manufactures railcar cushioning units, couplers, yokes, side frames, bolsters, and various other parts. The Leasing & Management Services segment offers operating leases and per diem leases for a fleet of approximately 13,400 railcars; and management services comprising railcar maintenance management, railcar accounting services, fleet management and logistics, administration, and railcar re-marketing. This segment provides management services for railroads, shippers, carriers, institutional investors, and other leasing and transportation companies. It serves railroads, leasing companies, financial institutions, shippers, carriers, and transportation companies. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Receive News & Ratings for Franklin Electric Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Franklin Electric and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
