Financial Comparison: Japan Steel Works (OTCMKTS:JPSWY) vs. Standex International (NYSE:SXI)

Japan Steel Works (OTCMKTS:JPSWY) and Standex International (NYSE:SXI) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Japan Steel Works and Standex International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Steel Works	0	1	0	0	2.00
Standex International	0	0	5	0	3.00

Standex International has a consensus target price of $223.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.41%. Given Standex International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Standex International is more favorable than Japan Steel Works.

Dividends

Japan Steel Works pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Standex International pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Japan Steel Works pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Standex International pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Standex International has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Japan Steel Works is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Steel Works and Standex International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Steel Works	6.95%	9.76%	4.84%
Standex International	7.06%	13.92%	6.69%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Japan Steel Works and Standex International”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Steel Works	$1.63 billion	2.80	$118.54 million	$0.85	36.15
Standex International	$790.11 million	3.04	$55.76 million	$4.64	42.85

Japan Steel Works has higher revenue and earnings than Standex International. Japan Steel Works is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Standex International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.3% of Standex International shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Standex International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Japan Steel Works has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standex International has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Standex International beats Japan Steel Works on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Steel Works

The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. engages in the provision of industrial machinery products, and material and engineering business in Japan and internationally. It operates through Industrial Machinery Products Business, and Material and Engineering Business segments. The Industrial Machinery Products Business segment offers plastic production and processing machinery, such as pelletizers, film and sheet manufacturing equipment, and twin-screw extruders; molding machines including plastic injection molding, magnesium injection molding, and blow molding machines; and other machinery consists of excimer laser annealing systems, defense equipment, railway products, hot press devices, vacuum laminators, and deposit systems, as well as after-sales services for plastics, mobility, high-performance batteries, electronic devices, and defense applications. The Material and Engineering Business segment provides steel casting and forgings, such as reactor and steam generator parts, rotor shafts, turbine casings, die steel, steel rolls for steel manufacturing, and clad steel plates; and engineering and other services, including design and analysis, welded structures, inspection and survey, and hydrogen pressure accumulators and related products for use in power generation equipment, renewable energy, and infrastructure applications. The company offers photonics, composite materials, and metallic materials for use in semiconductors and electronic devices, cameras and sensing devices, aircraft and mobility components, and electronic parts. The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Shinagawa, Japan.

About Standex International

Standex International Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of various products and services for commercial and industrial markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Electronics, Engraving, Scientific, Engineering Technologies, and Specialty Solutions. The Electronics segment offers reed relays, fluid level, proximity, motion, flow, HVAC condensate, and custom electronics sensors; and custom wound transformers and inductors for low and high frequency, current sense technology, advanced planar transformer technology, value added assembly, and mechanical packaging applications under the Standex Electronics, Renco, and Agile Magnetics. The Engraving segment provides mold texturizing, slush molding tools, roll engraving, hygiene product tooling, and low observation vents, as well as project management and design services for stealth aircraft; and process machinery for various industries under the Piazza Rosa, World Client Services, Tenibac-Graphion, GS Engineering, and Innovent brand names. The Scientific segment offers temperature-controlled equipment for the medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, biotech, and industrial markets under the American BioTech Supply, Lab Research Products, Corepoint, Cryosafe, CryoGuard, and Scientific brands. The Engineering Technologies segment offers net and near net formed single-source customized solutions that are used in the manufacture of engineered components for the aviation, aerospace, defense, energy, industrial, medical, marine, oil and gas, and manned and unmanned space markets under the Spincraft brand. The Specialty Solutions segment manufactures and sells refrigerated, heated, and dry merchandizing display cases; and single and double acting telescopic, and piston rod hydraulic cylinders under the Federal and Custom Hoist brands. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire.