Comparing Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) & Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK)

Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) and Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK) are both mid-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Autoliv pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Oshkosh pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Autoliv pays out 37.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Oshkosh pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Autoliv has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Oshkosh has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

69.6% of Autoliv shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of Oshkosh shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Autoliv shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Oshkosh shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Autoliv and Oshkosh”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Autoliv	$10.39 billion	0.93	$647.00 million	$9.14	13.83
Oshkosh	$10.38 billion	0.84	$681.40 million	$9.96	13.67

Oshkosh has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Autoliv. Oshkosh is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Autoliv, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Autoliv and Oshkosh, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Autoliv	0	5	10	2	2.82
Oshkosh	1	3	9	1	2.71

Autoliv currently has a consensus target price of $122.92, indicating a potential downside of 2.77%. Oshkosh has a consensus target price of $138.08, indicating a potential upside of 1.42%. Given Oshkosh’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Oshkosh is more favorable than Autoliv.

Profitability

This table compares Autoliv and Oshkosh’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Autoliv	6.83%	30.73%	8.86%
Oshkosh	6.25%	16.70%	7.24%

Volatility & Risk

Autoliv has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oshkosh has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Autoliv beats Oshkosh on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Autoliv

Autoliv, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies passive safety systems to the automotive industry in Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and rest of Asia. It offers passive safety systems, including modules and components for frontal-impact airbag protection systems, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, and inflator technologies. The company also provides mobility safety solutions, such as pedestrian protection, battery cut-off switches, connected safety services, and safety solutions for riders of powered two wheelers. It primarily serves car manufacturers. Autoliv, Inc. was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Oshkosh

Oshkosh Corporation provides purpose-built vehicles and equipment worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Access, Defense, and Vocational segment. Its Access Equipment segment design and manufacture aerial work platform and telehandlers for use in construction, industrial, and maintenance applications; offers financing and leasing solutions including rental fleet loans, leases, and floor plan and retail financing; and towing and recovery equipment, which includes carriers, wreckers, and rotators, as well as provides equipment installation and sale of chassis and service parts. The Defense segment engages in the manufacture and sale of heavy, medium, and light tactical wheeled vehicles and related services for department of defense. Its Vocational segment offers custom and commercial firefighting equipment, fire apparatus, and emergency vehicles, including pumpers, aerial platform, ladder and tiller trucks, and tankers; light, medium, and heavy-duty rescue vehicles; and wildland rough terrain response, bomb squad, hazardous materials control vehicles, mobile command and control centers, and other emergency response vehicles. Additionally, this segment produces and sells custom and commercial firefighting vehicles, as well as command vehicles, ARFF vehicles; design and manufacture refuse collection vehicles for waste services industry; front discharge concrete mixers for the concrete ready-mix industry; and field service vehicles and truck-mounted cranes for construction, equipment dealer, building supply, utility, tire service, railroad, and mining industries. Further, the company provides its products through direct sales representatives, dealers, and distributors. Oshkosh Corporation was formerly known as Oshkosh Truck Corporation. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.