Contrasting Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) and Kyocera (OTCMKTS:KYOCY)

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) and Kyocera (OTCMKTS:KYOCY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Littelfuse pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Kyocera pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Littelfuse pays out 64.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kyocera pays out 258.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Littelfuse has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Littelfuse has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kyocera has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Littelfuse and Kyocera”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Littelfuse	$2.19 billion	2.62	$100.19 million	$4.32	53.75
Kyocera	$13.23 billion	1.15	$159.04 million	$0.12	90.33

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

Profitability

This table compares Littelfuse and Kyocera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Littelfuse	4.89%	9.00%	5.65%
Kyocera	1.15%	0.71%	0.52%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Littelfuse and Kyocera, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Littelfuse	0	4	2	0	2.33
Kyocera	0	0	0	0	0.00

Littelfuse presently has a consensus price target of $252.25, suggesting a potential upside of 8.64%. Given Littelfuse’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Littelfuse is more favorable than Kyocera.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.1% of Littelfuse shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.4% of Kyocera shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Littelfuse shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Littelfuse beats Kyocera on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors. This segment serves industrial motor drives and power conversion, automotive electronics, electric vehicle and related charging infrastructure, aerospace, power supplies, data centers, telecommunications, medical devices, alternative energy, building and home automation, appliances, and mobile electronics markets. The Transportation segment provides blade, resettable, and high-current and high-voltage fuses, as well as battery cable protectors; fuses, switches, relays, circuit breakers, and power distribution modules; and sensor products. This segment serves heavy-duty truck, construction, agriculture, material handling, and marine. The Industrial segment offers industrial fuses, protection relays, contactors, transformers, residual current devices, ground fault circuit interrupters, residual current monitors, arc fault detection devices, and temperature sensors for use in renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle infrastructure, HVAC systems, industrial safety, non-residential construction, MRO, mining, and factory automation. It sells its products through distributors, direct sales force, and manufacturers' representatives. Littelfuse, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Kyocera

Kyocera Corporation develops, produces, and distributes products based on fine ceramic technologies in Japan, rest of Asia, Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Core Components Business, Electronic Components Business, and Solutions Business segments. The Core Components Business segment offers components, such as fine ceramic components for semiconductor processing equipment, automotive camera modules, and ceramic packages, as well as organic packages and boards to protect electronic components and ICs to industrial machinery, automotive-related, and the information and communication-related markets; optical components, and jewelry and applied ceramic related products; and medical devices comprising prosthetic joints and dental implants. The Electronic Components Business segment provides various electronic components and devices, including capacitors, crystal devices, connectors, and power semiconductor devices for diverse fields comprising information and communications, industrial equipment, automotive-related, and consumer markets, as well as sensors and control components. The Solutions Business segment offers cutting tools, as well as pneumatic and power tools for automotive-related and general industrial, and construction markets; printers for offices; and communication terminals, such as mobile phones, as well as information systems and telecommunication services. This segment also provides MFPs, commercial inkjet printers, communication modules, displays, and printing devices, as well as information systems and telecommunication, smart energy-related products and services, and solution services, such as document management system. The company was formerly known as Kyoto Ceramic Kabushiki Kaisha and changed its name to Kyocera Corporation in 1982. Kyocera Corporation was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.