Manitowoc (MTW) and Its Rivals Critical Review

Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) is one of 436 public companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Manitowoc to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Manitowoc has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manitowoc’s peers have a beta of 5.12, meaning that their average stock price is 412% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Manitowoc and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manitowoc	1.10%	4.75%	1.77%
Manitowoc Competitors	-1,039.03%	-14.89%	0.54%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.7% of Manitowoc shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.8% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Manitowoc shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.3% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Manitowoc and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manitowoc	$2.24 billion	$7.20 million	31.43
Manitowoc Competitors	$4.64 billion	$364.17 million	4.99

Manitowoc’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Manitowoc. Manitowoc is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Manitowoc and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manitowoc	2	1	0	0	1.33
Manitowoc Competitors	4206	14711	18217	808	2.41

Manitowoc presently has a consensus target price of $17.50, suggesting a potential downside of 21.57%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 35.36%. Given Manitowoc’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Manitowoc has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

Manitowoc peers beat Manitowoc on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Manitowoc Company Profile

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.