Reviewing Preformed Line Products (PLPC) & Its Peers

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) is one of 216 public companies in the “Electrical Equipment” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Preformed Line Products to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Preformed Line Products and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Preformed Line Products	7.58%	11.96%	8.49%
Preformed Line Products Competitors	-354.39%	-45.12%	-7.92%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Preformed Line Products and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Preformed Line Products	$669.34 million	$35.28 million	22.00
Preformed Line Products Competitors	$2.38 billion	$142.37 million	21.19

Preformed Line Products’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Preformed Line Products. Preformed Line Products is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Preformed Line Products has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Preformed Line Products’ competitors have a beta of -20.43, suggesting that their average stock price is 2,143% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.2% of Preformed Line Products shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.4% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 33.0% of Preformed Line Products shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Preformed Line Products pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Preformed Line Products pays out 7.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.6% and pay out 27.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Preformed Line Products and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Preformed Line Products	0	0	1	1	3.50
Preformed Line Products Competitors	2288	5167	7220	438	2.38

Preformed Line Products currently has a consensus target price of $275.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.97%. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 55.52%. Given Preformed Line Products’ competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Preformed Line Products has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Preformed Line Products beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Preformed Line Products Company Profile

Preformed Line Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products and systems that are used in the construction and maintenance of overhead, ground-mounted, and underground networks for the energy, telecommunication, cable, data communication, and other industries. The company offers optical ground wire products to support, protect, terminate, and splice transmission and distribution lines, as well as bolted, welded, and compressed connectors for substations; and string hardware products, polymer insulators, wildlife protection, substation fittings, and motion control devices. It also provides rugged outside plant closures to protect and support wireline and wireless networks, such as copper cable or fiber optic cable from moisture, environmental hazards, and other contaminants; and hardware assemblies, pole line hardware, plastic products, cable dynamics/vibration solutions, interior/exterior connectors, tools, and urethane solutions that are used by energy, renewable energy, communications, cable, and special industries for various applications. The company serves public and private energy utilities and communication companies, cable operators, governmental agencies, contractors and subcontractors, distributors, and value-added resellers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It markets its products through a direct sales force, as well as through manufacturing representatives. Preformed Line Products Company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio.