Reviewing Novanta (NOVT) & Its Competitors

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) is one of 376 public companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Novanta to related businesses based on the strength of its earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.3% of Novanta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Novanta shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Novanta and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Novanta	$1.09 billion	$53.83 million	90.75
Novanta Competitors	$4.19 billion	$173.71 million	3.31

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

Risk & Volatility

Novanta has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novanta’s competitors have a beta of -0.22, indicating that their average stock price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Novanta and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novanta	1	1	1	0	2.00
Novanta Competitors	2059	7638	10469	670	2.47

Novanta currently has a consensus target price of $175.00, indicating a potential upside of 47.21%. As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 34.43%. Given Novanta’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Novanta is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Novanta and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novanta	4.89%	10.23%	6.73%
Novanta Competitors	-143.90%	-24.05%	-6.42%

Summary

Novanta beats its competitors on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Novanta

Novanta develops and manufactures precision technologies used in medical and advanced industrial applications. Its products include photonics and laser components, precision motion-control systems, machine-vision technologies, and related equipment and software. The company’s technologies are used in areas such as medical and surgical systems, life sciences, robotics, and industrial automation. Novanta serves customers internationally, with operations and customers across North America, Europe, and Asia.