Financial Contrast: SMC (OTCMKTS:SMCAY) & Hayward (NYSE:HAYW)

SMC (OTCMKTS:SMCAY) and Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares SMC and Hayward’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SMC	19.69%	8.01%	7.30%
Hayward	11.53%	10.94%	5.22%

Volatility & Risk

SMC has a beta of 1, indicating that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Hayward has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SMC and Hayward, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SMC	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hayward	0	4	1	0	2.20

Hayward has a consensus target price of $17.13, indicating a potential upside of 14.63%. Given Hayward’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hayward is more favorable than SMC.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.0% of SMC shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Hayward 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 and Earnings

This table compares SMC and Hayward”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SMC	$5.20 billion	4.15	$1.03 billion	$0.80	21.10
Hayward	$1.05 billion	3.07	$118.65 million	$0.55	27.16

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

About SMC

SMC Corporation manufactures, processes, and sells automatic control equipment, sintered filters, and various types of filtration equipment worldwide. The company offers air management system, directional control valves, air cylinders, rotatory actuators/air grippers, electric actuators/cylinders, fitting and tubing, and modular F.R.L./pressure control equipment, as well as vacuum, air preparation, and lubrication equipment. It also provides flow control equipment, speed controllers, silencers/exhaust/blow guns/pressure gauges, switches/sensors/controllers, static neutralization equipment, and industrial device communication equipment/wireless system. In addition, the company offers process valves, chemical liquid valves/fittings and needle valves/tubing, process pumps, temperature control equipment, and process gas equipment, as well as high vacuum equipment, industrial filters/sintered metal elements, and pneumatic instrumentation and hydraulic equipment. The company was formerly known as Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd. and changed its name to SMC Corporation in April 1986. SMC Corporation was incorporated in 1959 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pool equipment and associated automation systems in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers pool equipment, including pumps, filters, robotics, suction and pressure cleaners, gas heaters and heat pumps, water features and landscape lighting, water sanitizers, salt chlorine generators, safety equipment, and in-floor automated cleaning systems, as well as LED illumination solutions. It sells its products through specialty distributors, retailers, and buying groups. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.