Taylor Devices (NASDAQ:TAYD) versus Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) Critical Analysis

Taylor Devices (NASDAQ:TAYD) and Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Taylor Devices and Manitowoc, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Taylor Devices	0	3	0	1	2.50
Manitowoc	2	1	0	0	1.33

Taylor Devices currently has a consensus price target of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.78%. Manitowoc has a consensus price target of $14.00, indicating a potential downside of 39.34%. Given Taylor Devices’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Taylor Devices is more favorable than Manitowoc.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Taylor Devices and Manitowoc”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Taylor Devices	$41.65 million	4.43	$8.56 million	$2.07	27.60
Manitowoc	$2.32 billion	0.36	$7.20 million	$0.55	41.96

Taylor Devices has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Manitowoc. Taylor Devices is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manitowoc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Taylor Devices and Manitowoc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Taylor Devices	17.50%	9.64%	8.90%
Manitowoc	0.87%	3.86%	1.43%

Risk & Volatility

Taylor Devices has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manitowoc has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

17.6% of Taylor Devices shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.7% of Manitowoc shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of Taylor Devices shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Manitowoc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Taylor Devices beats Manitowoc on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Taylor Devices

Taylor Devices, Inc. engages in design, development, manufacture, and marketing of shock absorption, rate control, and energy storage devices for use in machinery, equipment, and structures in the United States, Asia, and internationally. Its products include seismic dampers that are designed to mitigate the effects of earthquakes on structures; Fluidicshoks, which are compact shock absorbers primarily used in defense, aerospace, and commercial industries; and crane and industrial buffers, which are larger versions of the Fluidicshoks for industrial application on cranes and crane trolleys, truck docks, ladle and ingot cars, ore trolleys, and train car stops. The company's products also comprise self-adjusting shock absorbers that include versions of Fluidicshoks, and crane and industrial buffers, which automatically adjust to various impact conditions and are designed for high cycle application primarily in the heavy industry; liquid die springs that are used as component parts of machinery and equipment used in the manufacture of tools and dies; vibration dampers, which are primarily used by aerospace and defense industries to control the response of electronics and optical systems subjected to air, ship, or spacecraft vibration; machined springs used in the aerospace applications; and custom actuators for special aerospace and defense applications. It markets its products through a network of sales representatives and distributors. The company was incorporated in 1955 and is headquartered in North Tonawanda, New York.

About Manitowoc

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. provides engineered lifting solutions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It designs, manufactures, and distributes crawler-mounted lattice-boom cranes under the Manitowoc brand; a line of top-slewing and self-erecting tower cranes under the Potain brand; mobile hydraulic cranes under the Grove, Shuttlelift, and National Crane brands; and hydraulic boom trucks under the National Crane brand. The company also provides aftermarket services, such as sale of parts and accessories, field service work, routine maintenance services, technical support, erection and decommissioning services, crane and component remanufacturing, training, and telematics services. Its crane products are used in various applications, including energy production/distribution and utilities; petrochemical and industrial; infrastructure, such as road, bridge, and airport construction; and commercial and residential construction. The company serves a range of customers, including dealers, rental companies, contractors, and government entities in the petrochemical, industrial, commercial construction, power and utilities, infrastructure, and residential construction end markets. The Manitowoc Company, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.