Critical Comparison: Shimano (OTCMKTS:SMNNY) vs. Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM)

Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) and Shimano (OTCMKTS:SMNNY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Latham Group and Shimano’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Latham Group	0.92%	1.32%	0.63%
Shimano	12.18%	5.24%	4.85%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Latham Group and Shimano, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Latham Group	2	3	2	0	2.00
Shimano	0	0	0	0	0.00

Latham Group currently has a consensus price target of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.88%. Given Latham Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Latham Group is more favorable than Shimano.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.9% of Latham Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Shimano shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Latham Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Latham Group and Shimano”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Latham Group	$576.64 million	1.47	$11.12 million	$0.05	144.40
Shimano	$3.12 billion	3.40	$227.74 million	$0.42	29.21

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

Risk & Volatility

Latham Group has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shimano has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Latham Group

Latham Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names. The company was formerly known as Latham Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Latham Group, Inc. in March 2021. Latham Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.

About Shimano

Shimano Inc. develops, produces, and distributes bicycle components, fishing tackles, and rowing equipment. It has operations in Japan, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Oceania. Shimano Inc. was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Sakai, Japan.