Reviewing Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM) & Albany International (NYSE:AIN)

Hydrofarm Holdings Group (NASDAQ:HYFM) and Albany International (NYSE:AIN) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Hydrofarm Holdings Group and Albany International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	-267.20%	-500.33%	-159.25%
Albany International	6.73%	14.25%	6.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Hydrofarm Holdings Group and Albany International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Albany International	0	4	0	1	2.40

Albany International has a consensus price target of $72.33, indicating a potential upside of 6.35%. Given Albany International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Albany International is more favorable than Hydrofarm Holdings Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hydrofarm Holdings Group and Albany International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hydrofarm Holdings Group	$134.25 million	0.03	-$289.79 million	($60.70)	-0.01
Albany International	$1.18 billion	1.63	-$57.34 million	$3.09	22.01

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.6% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.4% of Albany International shares are held by institutional investors. 14.9% of Hydrofarm Holdings Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Albany International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Hydrofarm Holdings Group has a beta of 2.53, indicating that its stock price is 153% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albany International has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Albany International beats Hydrofarm Holdings Group on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hydrofarm Holdings Group

Hydrofarm Holdings Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYFM) is a distributor and manufacturer of hydroponic and controlled-environment agriculture equipment and supplies. The company serves commercial and hobbyist growers, specialty retailers, and other customers involved in indoor and greenhouse cultivation, primarily in the United States and Canada. Its product portfolio includes grow lighting, hydroponic systems, growing media, nutrients and supplements, irrigation equipment, environmental-control systems, propagation supplies, containers, pest-management products, and related cultivation accessories.

About Albany International

Albany International Corporation is a materials science and manufacturing company founded in 1895 as Albany Felt Company. It operates through two businesses: Machine Clothing and Albany Engineered Composites. Machine Clothing makes permeable fabrics and belts used in paper production, as well as products for paperboard, tissue and other industrial applications. Albany Engineered Composites designs and manufactures advanced composite structures and components, primarily for the aerospace and defense industries.