Critical Review: Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) & Uni-Pixel (OTCMKTS:UNXLQ)

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) and Uni-Pixel (OTCMKTS:UNXLQ) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Novanta and Uni-Pixel, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novanta	0	1	0	0	2.00
Uni-Pixel	0	0	0	0	0.00

Novanta currently has a consensus target price of $133.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.51%. Given Novanta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Novanta is more favorable than Uni-Pixel.

Profitability

This table compares Novanta and Uni-Pixel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novanta	6.41%	14.70%	7.88%
Uni-Pixel	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Novanta and Uni-Pixel”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Novanta	$949.24 million	4.73	$64.09 million	$1.70	73.45
Uni-Pixel	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Novanta has higher revenue and earnings than Uni-Pixel.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.4% of Novanta shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Novanta shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Uni-Pixel shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Novanta beats Uni-Pixel on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc. engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products. The Vision segment offers a range of medical grade technologies, including medical insufflators, pumps and related disposables, surgical displays and operating room integration technologies, optical data collection and machine vision technologies, radio frequency identification technologies, thermal printers, spectrometry technologies, and embedded touch screen solutions. The Precision Motion segment includes optical encoders, precision motor and motion control technology, air bearing spindles, and precision machined components to customers. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Bedford, MA.

About Uni-Pixel

Uni-Pixel, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets micro-structured polymer film materials and related technologies for the display, flexible electronics, and automotive industries in the United States. The company markets its touch screen films as sub-components of a touch sensor module under the XTouch brand; and hard coat resin and optical films under the Diamond Guard brand. Uni-Pixel, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. On February 21, 2018, the voluntary petition of Uni-Pixel, Inc. for reorganization under Chapter 11 was converted to Chapter 7. It had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 30, 2017.