Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) versus IDEX (NYSE:IEX) Head to Head Contrast

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) and IDEX (NYSE:IEX) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Trimble and IDEX”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Trimble	$3.59 billion	3.30	$424.00 million	$1.90	26.72
IDEX	$3.46 billion	4.83	$483.20 million	$6.76	33.39

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Trimble and IDEX, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Trimble	0	2	10	0	2.83
IDEX	0	3	6	0	2.67

Trimble currently has a consensus target price of $87.33, indicating a potential upside of 72.02%. IDEX has a consensus target price of $241.11, indicating a potential upside of 6.81%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Trimble is more favorable than IDEX.

Volatility & Risk

Trimble has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDEX has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Trimble and IDEX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Trimble	12.38%	11.61%	7.32%
IDEX	14.38%	15.29%	8.89%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of IDEX shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of IDEX shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

IDEX beats Trimble on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.

About IDEX

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries. The HST segment designs, produces, and distributes precision fluidics positive displacement pumps, powder and liquid processing technologies, drying systems, micro-precision components, pneumatic components and sealing solutions, high performance molded and extruded sealing components, custom mechanical and shaft seals, engineered hygienic mixers and valves, biocompatible medical devices and implantables, air compressors and blowers, optical components and coatings, laboratory and commercial equipment, and precision photonic solutions. This segment serves food and beverage, life sciences, analytical instruments, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, industrial, semiconductor, automotive/transportation, medical/dental, energy, cosmetics, marine, chemical, wastewater and water treatment, research and aerospace/defense markets. The FSDP segment designs, produces, and distributes firefighting pumps, valves and controls, rescue tools, lifting bags, and other components and systems for the fire and rescue industry; engineered stainless steel banding and clamping devices for various industrial and commercial applications; and precision equipment for dispensing, metering, and mixing colorants and paints used in retail and commercial businesses. IDEX Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.