KB Home (NYSE:KBH) and Universal Electronics (NASDAQ:UEIC) Head to Head Comparison

Universal Electronics (NASDAQ:UEIC) and KB Home (NYSE:KBH) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Universal Electronics and KB Home, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal Electronics	1	2	0	0	1.67
KB Home	2	9	4	0	2.13

Universal Electronics currently has a consensus target price of $4.25, suggesting a potential downside of 17.81%. KB Home has a consensus target price of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.83%. Given KB Home’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe KB Home is more favorable than Universal Electronics.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.3% of Universal Electronics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of KB Home shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.1% of Universal Electronics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of KB Home shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Universal Electronics has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KB Home has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Universal Electronics and KB Home”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Universal Electronics	$368.29 million	0.18	-$18.60 million	($1.16)	-4.46
KB Home	$6.24 billion	0.47	$428.79 million	$3.55	13.50

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

Profitability

This table compares Universal Electronics and KB Home’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal Electronics	-4.57%	2.70%	1.44%
KB Home	4.39%	6.54%	3.75%

Summary

KB Home beats Universal Electronics on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Universal Electronics

Universal Electronics Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, ships, and supports control and sensor technology solutions in the United States, the People’s Republic of China, rest of Asia, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. The company offers voice-enabled automatically-programmed universal two-way radio frequency, as well as infrared remote controls to video service providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), retailers, and private label customers; wall-mount and handheld thermostat controllers and connected accessories for smart energy management systems to OEM customers, hotels, hospitality, and system integrators; proprietary and standards-based RF sensors for residential security, safety, and home automation applications; and integrated circuits on which its software and universal device control database is embedded to OEMs, video service providers, and private label customers. It also provides software, firmware and technology solutions that can enable devices such as Smart TVs, hybrid set-top boxes, audio systems, smart speakers, game consoles, and other consumer electronic and smart home devices to wirelessly connect and interoperate within home networks; cloud-services that support its embedded software and hardware solutions; intellectual property that the company licenses to OEMs and video service providers; embedded and cloud-enabled software for firmware update provisioning and digital rights management validation services to consumer electronics brands; and AV accessories, including universal remote controls, television wall mounts and stands, and digital television antennas. In addition, the company QuickSet, a software application that can be embedded in entertainment or smart home platform or can be delivered as a cloud-based service, through QuickSet Cloud, to enable universal device setup, interoperability, and control. Universal Electronics Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About KB Home

KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. The company also provides financial services, such as insurance products and title services, as well as mortgage banking services, including residential consumer mortgage loans to homebuyers. It has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington. The company was formerly known as Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation and changed its name to KB Home in January 2001. KB Home was founded in 1957 and is based in Los Angeles, California.