Analyzing Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) & NSK (OTCMKTS:NPSKY)

Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) and NSK (OTCMKTS:NPSKY) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Century Aluminum and NSK”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Century Aluminum	$2.22 billion	0.97	$336.80 million	$1.18	19.50
NSK	$5.23 billion	0.47	$70.27 million	N/A	N/A

Century Aluminum has higher earnings, but lower revenue than NSK.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Century Aluminum and NSK, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Century Aluminum	0	0	3	0	3.00
NSK	0	0	0	0	0.00

Century Aluminum currently has a consensus target price of $24.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 7.20%. Given Century Aluminum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Century Aluminum is more favorable than NSK.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Century Aluminum shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Century Aluminum and NSK’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Century Aluminum	4.94%	18.18%	6.22%
NSK	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.53, indicating that its share price is 153% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NSK has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Century Aluminum beats NSK on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products in the United States and Iceland. It also owns and operates an alumina production facility in Iceland, and a carbon anode production facility in the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About NSK

NSK Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells industrial machinery bearings, automotive products, and precision machinery and parts worldwide. Its products include ball bearings; roller bearings; bearing units; super precision bearings; bearings for steel industry, mining and construction, papermaking machines, and pumps and compressors; and bearings for special environments, including sanitary, corrosive, vacuum, cleanroom, high-temperature, non-magnetic requirement, and dust-contaminated environments. The company also provides automotive products, which comprise chassis products, such as electric power steerings, steering column and intermediate shafts, brake systems, and hub unit bearings; power train products comprising engine parts and electrical accessories, automatic and manual transmission, products for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, half toroidal CVT POWERTOROS units, and differential gear and propeller shafts. In addition, it offers precision machine components, including ball screws, linear guides, monocarriers, XY tables, and spindles; and accessories, including ball screw support bearings, air bearings, and clean grease, as well as support units for heavy and light loads, machine tools, and small equipment. Further, the company provides megatorque motors and maintenance services. It serves agriculture, automotive, cement, food processing machinery, industrial motor, gearbox, injection molding machine, machine tool, medical device, mining and construction, motorcycle, office equipment, palm oil, papermaking machinery, pump and compressor, railway, semiconductor, steel, sugar, and wind turbine industries. NSK Ltd. was incorporated in 1916 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.