Reviewing KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) & Casio Computer (OTCMKTS:CSIOY)

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Casio Computer (OTCMKTS:CSIOY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and risk.

Dividends

KLA pays an annual dividend of $7.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Casio Computer pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. KLA pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Casio Computer pays out 166.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. KLA has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

KLA has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Casio Computer has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KLA and Casio Computer”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KLA	$12.16 billion	9.83	$4.06 billion	$30.39	29.78
Casio Computer	$1.72 billion	1.18	$53.22 million	$1.67	51.00

KLA has higher revenue and earnings than Casio Computer. KLA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Casio Computer, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for KLA and Casio Computer, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KLA	0	10	8	0	2.44
Casio Computer	0	0	0	0	0.00

KLA presently has a consensus price target of $890.59, suggesting a potential downside of 1.60%. Given KLA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe KLA is more favorable than Casio Computer.

Profitability

This table compares KLA and Casio Computer’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KLA	33.41%	112.41%	28.75%
Casio Computer	2.18%	4.78%	3.12%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.7% of KLA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of KLA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

KLA beats Casio Computer on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection. The company offers inspection and review tools to identify, locate, characterize, review, and analyze defects on various surfaces of patterned and unpatterned wafers; metrology systems that are used to measure pattern dimensions, film thickness, film stress, layer-to-layer alignment, pattern placement, surface topography, and electro-optical properties for wafers; chemical process control equipment; wired and wireless sensor wafers and reticles; wafer defect inspection, review, and metrology systems; reticle inspection and metrology systems; and semiconductor software solutions that provide run-time process control, defect excursion identification, process corrections, and defect classification to accelerate yield learning rates and reduce production risk. It also provides etch, plasma dicing, deposition, and other wafer processing technologies and solutions for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. In addition, the company offers direct imaging, inspection, optical shaping, inkjet and additive printing, UV laser drilling, and computer-aided manufacturing and engineering solutions for the PCB market; inspection and electrical testing systems to identify and classify defects, as well as systems to repair defects for the display market; and inspection and metrology systems for quality control and yield improvement in advanced and traditional semiconductor packaging markets. The company was formerly known as KLA-Tencor Corporation and changed its name to KLA Corporation in July 2019. KLA Corporation was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

About Casio Computer

Casio Computer Co.,Ltd. develops, produces, and sells consumer, system equipment, and other products. The company operates in Timepieces, Consumer, System Equipment, and Other segments. It offers timepieces, electronic dictionaries, calculators, label printers, electronic musical instruments, handheld terminals, cash registers, management support systems, data projectors, formed parts, and molds products. The company was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.