Analyzing Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) and Pioneer Power Solutions (NASDAQ:PPSI)

Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) and Pioneer Power Solutions (NASDAQ:PPSI) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Murata Manufacturing and Pioneer Power Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murata Manufacturing	0	0	0	0	0.00
Pioneer Power Solutions	0	0	1	0	3.00

Pioneer Power Solutions has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 214.14%. Given Pioneer Power Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Pioneer Power Solutions is more favorable than Murata Manufacturing.

Profitability

This table compares Murata Manufacturing and Pioneer Power Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murata Manufacturing	12.51%	8.51%	7.28%
Pioneer Power Solutions	105.23%	-11.16%	-6.82%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Murata Manufacturing and Pioneer Power Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Murata Manufacturing	$11.45 billion	2.64	$1.54 billion	$0.39	20.82
Pioneer Power Solutions	$22.88 million	1.85	$31.85 million	($0.68)	-5.62

Murata Manufacturing has higher revenue and earnings than Pioneer Power Solutions. Pioneer Power Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Murata Manufacturing, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.8% of Murata Manufacturing shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.9% of Pioneer Power Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.8% of Pioneer Power Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Murata Manufacturing has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pioneer Power Solutions has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Murata Manufacturing

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. designs, manufactures, and sells ceramic-based passive electronic components and solutions in Japan and internationally. The company offers capacitors, inductors, noise suppression products/EMI suppression filters/ESD protection devices, resistors, thermistors, sensors, timing devices, quartz devices, sound components, power products, batteries, micro mechatronics, RFID product, baluns, couplers, filters, phase shifters, RF switches, front-end modules, SAW components, connectors, antennas, connectivity modules, wireless connectivity platforms, ionizers/active oxygen modules, and transformers. It also offers Femtet, a CAE software that solves various engineering challenges; and provides silver oxide battery. In addition, the company provides connectivity, Wifi sensing, IOT, AI, and RFID solutions. Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. offers its products for use in communications equipment, mobility, enterprise system, industrial, healthcare, medical, personal electronics applications, and other sectors. The company was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Nagaokakyo, Japan.

About Pioneer Power Solutions

Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, design, manufacture, integrate, refurbish, distribute, sell, and service electric power systems, distributed energy resources, power generation equipment, and mobile EV charging solutions. The company operates through Electrical Infrastructure Equipment and Critical Power Solutions segments. The Electrical Infrastructure Equipment segment provides electric power systems that help customers effectively and efficiently protect, control, transfer, monitor, and manage their electric energy requirements. It also offers e-Bloc power systems, power systems, and circuit protective equipment related products. The Critical Power Solutions segment provides power generation equipment maintenance, repairs, remote monitoring, and equipment services, and EV charging solutions. This segment offers suite generator on a truck and power generation equipment, and repair, maintenance, and support services. Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. serves utility, industrial, and commercial markets. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey.