Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) versus Atmus Filtration Technologies (NYSE:ATMU) Head to Head Comparison

Atmus Filtration Technologies (NYSE:ATMU) and Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Atmus Filtration Technologies and Tetra Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atmus Filtration Technologies	11.22%	83.23%	17.32%
Tetra Tech	3.94%	24.70%	9.99%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Atmus Filtration Technologies and Tetra Tech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atmus Filtration Technologies	0	3	2	0	2.40
Tetra Tech	0	2	2	0	2.50

Atmus Filtration Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $45.40, suggesting a potential downside of 1.43%. Tetra Tech has a consensus price target of $41.67, suggesting a potential upside of 15.55%. Given Tetra Tech’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Tetra Tech is more favorable than Atmus Filtration Technologies.

Risk and Volatility

Atmus Filtration Technologies has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tetra Tech has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Atmus Filtration Technologies and Tetra Tech”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atmus Filtration Technologies	$1.67 billion	2.27	$185.60 million	$2.26	20.38
Tetra Tech	$5.20 billion	1.82	$333.38 million	$0.80	45.08

Tetra Tech has higher revenue and earnings than Atmus Filtration Technologies. Atmus Filtration Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tetra Tech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.7% of Atmus Filtration Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Atmus Filtration Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Atmus Filtration Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Tetra Tech pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Atmus Filtration Technologies pays out 9.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Tetra Tech pays out 32.5% 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. Tetra Tech has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Tetra Tech is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Tetra Tech beats Atmus Filtration Technologies on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atmus Filtration Technologies

Atmus Filtration Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells filtration products under the Fleetguard brand name in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and internationally. The company offers fuel filters, lube filters, air filters, crankcase ventilation, hydraulic filters, coolants, and fuel additives, as well as other chemicals; and fuel water separators and other filtration systems to original equipment manufacturers, dealers/distributors, and end-users. Its products are used in on-highway commercial vehicles and off-highway agriculture, construction, mining, and power generation vehicles and equipment. The company was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech, Inc. provides consulting and engineering services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Services Group (GSG) and Commercial/International Services Group (CIG). The GSG segment offers early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and climate change and energy management consulting, as well as greenhouse gas inventory assessment, certification, reduction, and management services. This segment serves federal, state, and local governments; and development agencies in water resources analysis and water management, environmental monitoring, data analytics, government consulting, waste management, and a range of civil infrastructure master planning and engineering design markets. The CIG segment provides early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, feasibility studies and assessments, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and environmental remediation and reconstruction services, and industrial water treatment services. This segment serves natural resources, energy, and utilities markets, as well as sustainable infrastructure master planning and engineering design for facilities, transportation, and local development projects. Tetra Tech, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.