Contrasting Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) & ICTS International (OTCMKTS:ICTSF)

ICTS International (OTCMKTS:ICTSF) and Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ICTS International and Eastern, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICTS International	0	0	0	0	0.00
Eastern	1	0	0	0	1.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ICTS International and Eastern”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICTS International	$483.31 million	0.34	-$4.23 million	N/A	N/A
Eastern	$269.05 million	0.49	-$8.53 million	($1.32)	-16.23

ICTS International has higher revenue and earnings than Eastern.

Risk and Volatility

ICTS International has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eastern has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.0% of Eastern shares are held by institutional investors. 62.4% of ICTS International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Eastern shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares ICTS International and Eastern’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICTS International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Eastern	-3.06%	10.44%	5.38%

About ICTS International

ICTS International N.V. provides airport security and other aviation services, and authentication technology services in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Spain, and internationally. It offers aviation security services, including security screening, behavior detection on crowds and queues, perimeter guarding/ patrolling, CCTV surveillance and/or alarm resolution, and vehicle marshalling. It also provides above wing security services, such as security interviewing, behavior detection, and escort of valuables and weapons; and handling services. In addition, it offers below wing services, comprising ramp and door guarding, interior and exterior searches, catering and bag room guarding, and selectee search; cargo security services, which include cargo screening, explosives detection dogs, access control, and vehicle marshalling services; private charter flight and cargo security screening, catering and aircraft Security Screening, aircraft search, and employee screening services; general security services, which comprise security search and screening, access control, perimeter guarding/patrolling, security host and reception, and CCTV surveillance and/or alarm resolution services; and training/consulting/auditing services. Further, it offers aviation security technology, including New Advanced Passenger Screening, an IT-system that enables pre-departure analysis of passenger information, and X-Check and I-Check that supports airline staff, security or filtering agents with customer processing; SaaS for identity verification and fraud prevention from physical and digital ID documents; and non-security services, such as agent services, guard services, queue monitors, aircraft cleaning, janitorial, skycap passengers luggage, wheelchair attendant, baggage handling, cruise line baggage transfer, VIP meet and greet services, equipment for passengers, and shuttle services to airline crews. The company was founded in 1982 and is based in Schiphol, the Netherlands.

About Eastern

The Eastern Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered solutions to industrial markets in the United States and internationally. The company offers turnkey returnable packaging solutions, which are used in the assembly processes of vehicles, aircraft, and durable goods, as well as in production processes of plastic packaging products, packaged consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals; designs and manufactures blow mold tools and injection blow mold tooling products, and 2-step stretch blow molds and related components for the stretch blow molding industry; and supplies blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industries. It also provides rotary latches, compression latches, draw latches, hinges, camlocks, key switches, padlocks, and handles; and development and program management services for custom electromechanical and mechanical systems for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and customer applications. In addition, the company designs and manufactures proprietary vision technology for OEMs and aftermarket applications, as well as offers aftermarket components to the heavy- and medium-duty truck, motorhome, and bus markets. The Eastern Company was founded in 1858 and is based in Shelton, Connecticut.