Critical Analysis: Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) & LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT)

LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT) and Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.1% of LiqTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of LiqTech International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

LiqTech International has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tetra Tech has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for LiqTech International and Tetra Tech, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiqTech International	0	0	2	0	3.00
Tetra Tech	0	2	2	0	2.50

LiqTech International presently has a consensus target price of $4.80, suggesting a potential upside of 106.90%. Tetra Tech has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.22%. Given LiqTech International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe LiqTech International is more favorable than Tetra Tech.

Profitability

This table compares LiqTech International and Tetra Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiqTech International	-68.79%	-74.41%	-33.72%
Tetra Tech	3.44%	23.31%	9.47%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LiqTech International and Tetra Tech”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiqTech International	$14.60 million	1.53	-$10.35 million	($1.49)	-1.56
Tetra Tech	$5.20 billion	1.90	$333.38 million	$0.69	54.41

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

Summary

Tetra Tech beats LiqTech International on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiqTech International

LiqTech International, Inc., a clean technology company, designs, develops, produces, markets, and sells automated filtering systems, ceramic silicon carbide liquid applications, and diesel particulate air filters in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. The company operates through Water, Ceramics, and Plastics segments. It also manufactures and sells silicon carbide ceramic filtration technologies for liquid and gas purification; and diesel particulate filters for exhaust emission control solutions to the verified retrofit and the original equipment manufacturer market. In addition, the company develops, manufactures, and sells liquid filtration systems, which are used for the marine scrubber systems, filtration of produced water, industrial applications, pool and spa water, food and beverage application, and silicon carbide membrane technology. Further, it provides flexible and plastics manufacturing products for machining, welding, bending, and solvent cementing. LiqTech International, Inc. sells its products primarily to industrial customers through direct sales, systems integrators, distributors, agents, and partners. The company was formerly known as Blue Moose Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiqTech International, Inc. in October 2011. LiqTech International, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech, Inc. provides consulting and engineering services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Services Group (GSG) and Commercial/International Services Group (CIG). The GSG segment offers early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and climate change and energy management consulting, as well as greenhouse gas inventory assessment, certification, reduction, and management services. This segment serves federal, state, and local governments; and development agencies in water resources analysis and water management, environmental monitoring, data analytics, government consulting, waste management, and a range of civil infrastructure master planning and engineering design markets. The CIG segment provides early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, feasibility studies and assessments, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and environmental remediation and reconstruction services, and industrial water treatment services. This segment serves natural resources, energy, and utilities markets, as well as sustainable infrastructure master planning and engineering design for facilities, transportation, and local development projects. Tetra Tech, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.