Art’s-Way Manufacturing (NASDAQ:ARTW) & Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) Critical Analysis

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) and Art’s-Way Manufacturing (NASDAQ:ARTW) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Parker-Hannifin has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Art’s-Way Manufacturing has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Parker-Hannifin and Art’s-Way Manufacturing”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Parker-Hannifin	$21.50 billion	5.65	$3.65 billion	$28.49	33.81
Art’s-Way Manufacturing	$22.98 million	0.72	$1.03 million	($0.09)	-35.11

Parker-Hannifin has higher revenue and earnings than Art’s-Way Manufacturing. Art’s-Way Manufacturing is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Parker-Hannifin, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.4% of Parker-Hannifin shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.9% of Art’s-Way Manufacturing shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Parker-Hannifin shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 51.5% of Art’s-Way Manufacturing shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Parker-Hannifin and Art’s-Way Manufacturing’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Parker-Hannifin	16.97%	28.48%	13.49%
Art’s-Way Manufacturing	-1.65%	-3.06%	-1.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Parker-Hannifin and Art’s-Way Manufacturing, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Parker-Hannifin	0	5	18	0	2.78
Art’s-Way Manufacturing	1	0	0	0	1.00

Parker-Hannifin currently has a consensus price target of $1,149.52, indicating a potential upside of 19.33%. Given Parker-Hannifin’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Parker-Hannifin is more favorable than Art’s-Way Manufacturing.

Summary

Parker-Hannifin beats Art’s-Way Manufacturing on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Parker-Hannifin

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural, and military machinery and equipment industries. The Aerospace Systems segment offers products for use in commercial and military airframe and engine programs, such as control actuation systems and components, engine build-up ducting, engine exhaust nozzles and assemblies, engine systems and components, fluid conveyance systems and components, fuel systems and components, fuel tank inerting systems, hydraulic systems and components, lubrication components, avionics, sensors, pneumatic control components, thermal management products, fire detection and suppression systems and components, and wheels and brakes, as well as fluid metering, delivery, and atomization devices. This segment markets its products directly to OEMs and end users. The company markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, and sales representatives. Parker-Hannifin Corporation was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

About Art’s-Way Manufacturing

Art’s-Way Manufacturing Co., Inc. manufactures and distributes farm equipment products. It operates through the Agricultural Products, and Modular Buildings segments. The Agricultural Products segment manufactures a variety of specialized farm machinery under its own label including portable and stationary animal feed processing equipment and related attachments used to mill and mix feed grains into custom animal feed rations, a line of forage equipment consisting of forage boxes, bale processors, running gear, and dump boxes, a line of manure spreaders, sugar beet harvesting equipment, and a line of dirt work equipment. The Modular Buildings segment produces and sells modular buildings, which are custom designed to meet the specific research needs of its customers. It also provides services relating to the design, manufacturing, delivery, installation and renting of the building units that it produces. The company was founded by Arthur Luscombe in 1956 and is headquartered in Armstrong, IA.