Comparing Generac (NYSE:GNRC) and Dover (NYSE:DOV)

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) and Dover (NYSE:DOV) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Generac has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dover has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Generac and Dover”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Generac	$4.35 billion	2.22	$325.26 million	$5.25	31.43
Dover	$7.92 billion	3.11	$2.70 billion	$16.26	11.05

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Generac and Dover, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Generac	1	7	13	0	2.57
Dover	0	6	6	0	2.50

Generac currently has a consensus target price of $191.61, suggesting a potential upside of 16.13%. Dover has a consensus target price of $211.55, suggesting a potential upside of 17.71%. Given Dover’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dover is more favorable than Generac.

Profitability

This table compares Generac and Dover’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Generac	6.92%	17.63%	8.50%
Dover	28.37%	17.62%	9.94%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Dover shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Generac shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Dover shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Dover beats Generac on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes various energy technology products and solution worldwide. The company offers residential automatic standby generators, automatic transfer switch, air-cooled engine residential standby generators, and liquid-cooled engine generators; Mobile Link, a remote monitoring system for home standby generators; residential storage solution, which consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, photovoltaic optimizers, power electronic controls, and other components; smart home solutions, such as smart thermostats and a suite of home monitoring products. It also provides smart home energy management devices and sensors for heating and cooling system; smart doorbell cameras; and portable and inverter generators; multiple portable battery solutions; manual transfer switches; outdoor power equipment, including trimmers, field and brush mowers, log splitters, stump grinders, chipper shredders, lawn and leaf vacuums, and pressure washers and water pumps; and battery-powered turf care products. In addition, the company offers commercial and industrial products comprising cleaner-burning natural gas fueled generators; light-commercial standby generators and related transfer switches; stationary generators; single-engine industrial generators; industrial standby generators; industrial transfer switches; light towers, mobile generators, commercial mobile pumps, heaters, dust-suppression equipment, and mobile energy storage systems; stationary energy storage system and related inverter products; and aftermarket service parts and product accessories. The company distributes its products through independent residential dealers, industrial distributors and dealers, national and regional retailers, e-commerce partners, electrical/HVAC/solar wholesalers, solar installers, catalogs, equipment rental companies, and other equipment distributors; and directly to end users. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

About Dover

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market. This segment offers manual and power clamp, rotary and linear mechanical indexer, conveyor, pick and place unit, glove port, and manipulator, as well as end-of-arm robotic gripper, slide, and end effector; winches, hoists, bearings, drives, and electric monitoring system; and radio frequency and microwave filters and switches, and signal intelligence solutions. Its Clean Energy & Fueling segment offers component, equipment, and software and service solution enabling safe storage and transport of fuel, cryogenic gases, and hazardous fluids, as well as operation of retail fueling and vehicle wash establishment. The company's Imaging & Identification segment provides precision marking and coding, product traceability equipment, brand protection, and digital textile printing equipment and solution, as well as related consumable, software, and service to packaged and consumer goods, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, fashion and apparel, and other end-market. Its Pumps & Process Solutions segment manufactures specialty pump, connector, flow meter, fluid connecting solution, plastics and polymer processing equipment, and engineered components for rotating and reciprocating machines. The company's Climate & Sustainability Technologies segment manufactures refrigeration system, refrigeration display case, commercial glass refrigerator and freezer door, and brazed plate heat exchanger for industrial heating and cooling, and residential climate control applications. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.