Rogers (NYSE:ROG) versus Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Financial Review

Rogers (NYSE:ROG) and Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Rogers has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novanta has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Rogers and Novanta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rogers	-8.14%	3.04%	2.56%
Novanta	6.41%	14.70%	7.88%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.0% of Rogers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.4% of Novanta shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Rogers shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Novanta shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Rogers and Novanta, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rogers	0	0	2	0	3.00
Novanta	0	1	0	0	2.00

Rogers presently has a consensus target price of $85.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.93%. Novanta has a consensus target price of $133.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.07%. Given Novanta’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Novanta is more favorable than Rogers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rogers and Novanta”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rogers	$830.10 million	1.74	$26.10 million	($3.53)	-22.52
Novanta	$949.24 million	4.46	$64.09 million	$1.70	69.19

Novanta has higher revenue and earnings than Rogers. Rogers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novanta, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Novanta beats Rogers on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rogers

Rogers Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of engineered materials and components worldwide. It operates through Advanced Electronics Solutions (AES), Elastomeric Material Solutions (EMS), and Other segments. The AES segment offers circuit materials, ceramic substrate materials, busbars, and cooling solutions for applications in electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV/HEV), wireless infrastructure, automotive, renewable energy, aerospace and defense, mass transit, industrial, connected devices, and wired infrastructure. This segment sells its products under the curamik, ROLINX, RO4000, RO3000, RT/duroid, CLTE Series, TMM, AD Series, DiClad, CuClad Series, Kappa, COOLSPAN, TC Series, IsoClad, MAGTREX, IM, 2929 Bondply, SpeedWave Prepreg, RO4400/RO4400T, and Radix names. The EMS segment provides engineered material solutions, including polyurethane and silicone materials used in cushioning, gasketing, sealing, and vibration management applications; customized silicones used in flex heater and semiconductor thermal applications; and polytetrafluoroethylene and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene materials used in wire and cable protection, electrical insulation, conduction and shielding, hose and belt protection, vibration management, cushioning, gasketing and sealing, and venting applications. This segment sells its products under the PORON, BISCO, DeWAL, ARLON, eSorba, XRD, Silicone Engineering, and R/bak names. The Other segment provides elastomer components; and elastomer floats for level sensing in fuel tanks, motors, and storage tanks for applications in the general industrial and automotive markets under the ENDUR and NITROPHYL names. The company was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc. engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products. The Vision segment offers a range of medical grade technologies, including medical insufflators, pumps and related disposables, surgical displays and operating room integration technologies, optical data collection and machine vision technologies, radio frequency identification technologies, thermal printers, spectrometry technologies, and embedded touch screen solutions. The Precision Motion segment includes optical encoders, precision motor and motion control technology, air bearing spindles, and precision machined components to customers. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Bedford, MA.