Critical Comparison: American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) vs. Ostin Technology Group (NASDAQ:OST)

American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) and Ostin Technology Group (NASDAQ:OST) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for American Superconductor and Ostin Technology Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Superconductor	0	0	2	0	3.00
Ostin Technology Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

American Superconductor presently has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential downside of 39.63%. Given American Superconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe American Superconductor is more favorable than Ostin Technology Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Superconductor and Ostin Technology Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Superconductor	$222.82 million	11.41	$6.03 million	$0.39	144.41
Ostin Technology Group	$32.46 million	0.28	-$10.06 million	N/A	N/A

American Superconductor has higher revenue and earnings than Ostin Technology Group.

Profitability

This table compares American Superconductor and Ostin Technology Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Superconductor	6.00%	9.35%	6.20%
Ostin Technology Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

American Superconductor has a beta of 2.88, suggesting that its stock price is 188% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ostin Technology Group has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.3% of American Superconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.9% of Ostin Technology Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.8% of American Superconductor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 44.8% of Ostin Technology Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

American Superconductor beats Ostin Technology Group on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Superconductor

American Superconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides megawatt-scale power resiliency solutions worldwide. The company operates through Grid and Wind segments. The Grid segment offers products and services that enable electric utilities, industrial facilities, and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit, and distribute power under the Gridtec Solutions brand. It provides transmission planning services, which identify power grid congestion, poor power quality, and other risks; grid interconnection solutions for wind farms and solar power plants, power quality systems, and transmission and distribution cable systems; D-VAR systems used for controlling power flow and voltage in the AC transmission system; actiVAR system, a fast-switching medium-voltage reactive compensation solution; armorVAR system installed for reactive compensation, power factor correction, loss reduction, utility bill savings, and mitigation of common power quality concerns related to power converter-based generation and load devices; and D-VAR volt var optimization (VVO) that serves the distribution power grid market. This segment also offers ship protection systems, which reduce a naval ship’s magnetic signature; and ON board power delivery systems, power generation systems, and propulsion systems; and transformers and rectifiers systems. The Wind segment designs wind turbine systems and licenses these designs to third parties under the Windtec Solutions brand. It also supplies power electronics and software-based control systems, engineered designs, and support services; and provides customer support services to wind turbine manufacturers. This segment’s design portfolio comprises a range of drivetrains and power ratings of 2 megawatts and higher. American Superconductor Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Ayer, Massachusetts.

About Ostin Technology Group

Ostin Technology Group Co., Ltd. designs, develops, and manufactures thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) modules and polarizers in China. It offers display modules to markets, such as consumer electronics, including AIOs, monitors, laptop computers, and tablets; automotive displays, including dashboard, and navigation and multimedia systems; and commercial LCD displays, which are used to display multimedia graphics, such as company advertisements, promotions, scoreboards, and traffic signs in education, medical treatment, business, outdoor, and cultural construction industries. The company sells its products directly to customers, as well as to customers' designated system integrators. Ostin Technology Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 2010 and is based in Nanjing, China.