Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) versus Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) Critical Comparison

Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) and Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.8% of Luxfer shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Mueller Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Luxfer shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Mueller Industries shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Luxfer and Mueller Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Luxfer	$360.90 million	1.28	$7.70 million	$0.30	57.58
Mueller Industries	$4.18 billion	3.37	$765.19 million	$3.84	16.60

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

Dividends

Luxfer pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Mueller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Luxfer pays out 173.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mueller Industries pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mueller Industries has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Luxfer has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mueller Industries has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Luxfer and Mueller Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Luxfer	0	2	0	1	2.67
Mueller Industries	0	0	2	0	3.00

Mueller Industries has a consensus price target of $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.64%. Given Mueller Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mueller Industries is more favorable than Luxfer.

Profitability

This table compares Luxfer and Mueller Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Luxfer	2.20%	12.22%	7.23%
Mueller Industries	18.25%	25.68%	21.80%

Summary

Mueller Industries beats Luxfer on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Luxfer

Luxfer Holdings PLC, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance materials, components, and high-pressure gas containment devices for defense and first response, healthcare, transportation, and general industrial applications. The company operates through three segments: Elektron, Gas Cylinders, and graphic Arts. The Elektron segment focuses on specialty materials based primarily on magnesium and zirconium. This segment also provides magnesium alloys for use in aerospace, healthcare, and oil and gas applications; magnesium powders for use in countermeasure flares, as well as heater meals; and zirconium-based materials and oxides used as catalysts and in the manufacture of advanced ceramics, fiber-optic fuel cells, pharmaceuticals, and other performance products. The Gas Cylinders segment manufactures and markets specialized products using carbon composites and aluminum alloys, including pressurized cylinders for use in various applications comprising self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for firefighters, containment of oxygen, and other medical gases for healthcare, alternative fuel vehicles, and general industrial applications. The Graphic Art segments provides magnesium photo-engraving plates, engraving metals, and etching chemicals. This segment also offers magnesium, copper, and zinc photo-engraving plates for graphic arts and luxury packaging; developer solutions; and solid wrought magnesium slab and sheet. Luxfer Holdings PLC has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, rest of Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples. It also resells steel pipes, brass and plastic plumbing valves, malleable iron fittings and faucets, and plumbing specialties; and supplies water tubes. This segment sells its products to wholesalers in the plumbing and refrigeration markets, distributors to the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries, building material retailers, and air-conditioning original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The Industrial Metals segment manufactures brass, bronze, and copper alloy rods; plumbing brass, valves, fittings, and gas assemblies; cold-form aluminum and copper products; machining of aluminum, steel, brass, and cast iron impacts and castings; brass and aluminum forgings; brass, aluminum, and stainless-steel valves; fluid control solutions; and gas train assembles to OEMs in the industrial, construction, HVAC, plumbing, and refrigeration markets. The Climate segment offers valves, protection devices, and brass fittings for various OEMs in the commercial HVAC and refrigeration markets; high-pressure components and accessories for the air-conditioning and refrigeration markets; coaxial heat exchangers and twisted tubes for the HVAC, geothermal, refrigeration, swimming pool heat pump, marine, ice machine, commercial boiler, and heat reclamation markets; and insulated HVAC flexible duct systems. Mueller Industries, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee.