Reviewing LG Display (NYSE:LPL) and Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA)

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) and LG Display (NYSE:LPL) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Zebra Technologies and LG Display’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zebra Technologies	9.22%	22.29%	9.46%
LG Display	-5.26%	-19.82%	-4.88%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zebra Technologies and LG Display”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zebra Technologies	$5.40 billion	3.41	$419.00 million	$10.93	35.36
LG Display	$18.16 billion	0.14	$212.66 million	($0.91)	-2.85

Zebra Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than LG Display. LG Display is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zebra Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.0% of Zebra Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Zebra Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of LG Display shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Zebra Technologies and LG Display, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zebra Technologies	0	4	9	0	2.69
LG Display	1	1	0	0	1.50

Zebra Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $385.83, indicating a potential downside of 0.16%. Given Zebra Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Zebra Technologies is more favorable than LG Display.

Risk & Volatility

Zebra Technologies has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LG Display has a beta of 1.73, suggesting that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Zebra Technologies beats LG Display on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Intelligence & Tracking, and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility. The company designs, manufactures, and sells printers that produce labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards; dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce images, which are used for personal identification, access control, and financial transactions; radio frequency identification device (RFID) printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders; accessories and options for printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts, and battery chargers; stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags for printers; and temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution. It also provides various maintenance, technical support, repair, and managed and professional services; fixed readers, RFID enabled mobile computers, and RFID sleds; tags, sensors, exciters, middleware software, and application software; and physical inventory management solutions, and rugged and enterprise-grade mobile computing products and accessories, as well as real-time location systems and services. In addition, the company offers barcode scanners and imagers, RFID readers, industrial machine vision cameras, and fixed industrial scanners; workforce management, workflow execution and task management, and prescriptive analytics, as well as communications and collaboration solutions; and cloud-based software subscriptions, retail, and robotics automation solutions. The company serves retail and e-commerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, public sector, and other industries through direct sales force, and network of channel partners. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

About LG Display

LG Display Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) and organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology-based display panels. Its TFT-LCD and OLED technology-based display panels are primarily used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablet computers, mobile devices, and automotive displays. The company also provides display panels for industrial and other applications, including entertainment systems, portable navigation devices, and medical diagnostic equipment. In addition, it provides janitorial services; invests in venture business and acquire technologies; and manages intellectual property. The company operates in Korea, China, rest of Asia, the Americas, Poland, and rest of Europe. LG Display Co., Ltd. was formerly known as LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd. and changed its name to LG Display Co., Ltd. in March 2008. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.