Analyzing Perma-Pipe International (PPIH) & Its Peers

Perma-Pipe International (NASDAQ:PPIH) is one of 437 publicly-traded companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Perma-Pipe International to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

28.4% of Perma-Pipe International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.6% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Perma-Pipe International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.8% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Perma-Pipe International and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perma-Pipe International	6.47%	15.92%	6.57%
Perma-Pipe International Competitors	-1,937.72%	-13.26%	0.73%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Perma-Pipe International and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perma-Pipe International	0	1	0	0	2.00
Perma-Pipe International Competitors	4050	14437	17845	767	2.41

Perma-Pipe International presently has a consensus target price of $36.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.11%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 24.15%. Given Perma-Pipe International’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Perma-Pipe International is more favorable than its competitors.

Risk and Volatility

Perma-Pipe International has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Perma-Pipe International’s competitors have a beta of 4.48, indicating that their average stock price is 348% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Perma-Pipe International and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perma-Pipe International	$210.93 million	$17.03 million	15.65
Perma-Pipe International Competitors	$4.55 billion	$345.47 million	0.28

Perma-Pipe International’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Perma-Pipe International. Perma-Pipe International 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.

Summary

Perma-Pipe International competitors beat Perma-Pipe International on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Perma-Pipe International Company Profile

Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engineers, designs, manufactures, and sells specialty piping and leak detection systems. It offers insulated and jacketed district heating and cooling piping systems for energy distribution from central energy plants to various locations; and primary and secondary containment piping systems for transporting chemicals, hazardous fluids, and petroleum products, as well as engages in the coating and insulation of oil and gas gathering and transmission pipelines. The company also offers liquid and powder based anti-corrosion coatings for external and internal surfaces of steel pipe, including shapes like bends, reducers, tees, and other spools/fittings that is used in pipelines for the transportation of oil and gas products and potable water. It has operations in the United States, Canada, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, India, and internationally. The company was formerly known as MFRI, Inc. and changed its name to Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc. in March 2017. Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Spring, Texas.