Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM – Get Free Report) and Hillman Solutions (NASDAQ:HLMN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Latham Group and Hillman Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Latham Group | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.40 |
| Hillman Solutions | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
Latham Group presently has a consensus price target of $7.56, suggesting a potential upside of 12.50%. Hillman Solutions has a consensus price target of $10.75, suggesting a potential upside of 38.71%. Given Hillman Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hillman Solutions is more favorable than Latham Group.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Latham Group | $508.52 million | 1.54 | -$17.86 million | ($0.14) | -48.00 |
| Hillman Solutions | $1.47 billion | 1.04 | $17.25 million | $0.09 | 86.11 |
Hillman Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Latham Group. Latham Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hillman Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Latham Group and Hillman Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Latham Group | -3.13% | -4.01% | -1.93% |
| Hillman Solutions | 1.24% | 8.73% | 4.36% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
84.0% of Latham Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Hillman Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of Latham Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of Hillman Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
Latham Group has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hillman Solutions has a beta of 1.66, meaning that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Hillman Solutions beats Latham Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Latham Group
Latham Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names. The company was formerly known as Latham Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Latham Group, Inc. in March 2021. Latham Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.
About Hillman Solutions
Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hillman is a leading North American provider of complete hardware solutions, delivered with industry best customer service to over 40,000 locations. Hillman designs innovative product and merchandising solutions for complex categories that deliver an outstanding customer experience to home improvement centers, mass merchants, national and regional hardware stores, pet supply stores, and OEM & Industrial customers. Leveraging a world-class distribution and sales network, Hillman delivers a “small business” experience with “big business” efficiency.
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