Head-To-Head Comparison: Sono-Tek (NASDAQ:SOTK) & Fanuc (OTCMKTS:FANUY)

Fanuc (OTCMKTS:FANUY) and Sono-Tek (NASDAQ:SOTK) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Fanuc and Sono-Tek’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fanuc	21.53%	10.47%	9.42%
Sono-Tek	9.32%	9.95%	7.81%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Fanuc and Sono-Tek, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fanuc	0	2	0	1	2.67
Sono-Tek	0	2	1	0	2.33

Sono-Tek has a consensus target price of $7.75, suggesting a potential upside of 80.23%. Given Sono-Tek’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sono-Tek is more favorable than Fanuc.

Risk & Volatility

Fanuc has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sono-Tek has a beta of -0.1, indicating that its share price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.5% of Fanuc shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of Sono-Tek shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of Sono-Tek shares are owned by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fanuc and Sono-Tek”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fanuc	$5.70 billion	5.90	$1.10 billion	$0.68	25.18
Sono-Tek	$20.91 million	3.24	$1.81 million	$0.12	35.83

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

Summary

Fanuc beats Sono-Tek on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fanuc

FANUC Corporation provides factory automation products in Japan, the Americas, Europe, China, the rest of Asia, and internationally. The company offers CNC series products, servo motors, lasers, robots, compact machining centers, electric injection molding machines, wire electrical discharge machines, and ultra-precision machines. It also provides FANUC intelligent edge link and drive system, an open platform for the manufacturing industry. FANUC Corporation was incorporated in 1950 and is headquartered in Yamanashi, Japan.

About Sono-Tek

Sono-Tek Corporation designs and manufactures ultrasonic coating systems for applying on parts and components for the microelectronics/electronics, alternative energy, medical, industrial, and research and development/other markets worldwide. The company also designs and manufactures custom-engineered ultrasonic coating systems; and provides nozzles and generators for manufacturers' equipment. Its products include integrated multi-axis coating systems, integrated coating systems, fluxing systems, OEM systems, and other related systems. In addition, the company provides surface coating solutions and application consulting services. It markets and distributes its products through direct sales personnel, select independent distributors, and sales representatives. The company was incorporated in 1975 and is based in Milton, New York.