Comparing Orbit International (OTCMKTS:ORBT) & Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT)

Orbit International (OTCMKTS:ORBT) and Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Orbit International and Novanta”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orbit International	$29.90 million	0.32	-$650,000.00	($0.95)	-2.84
Novanta	$949.24 million	3.83	$64.09 million	$1.70	59.43

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Novanta shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.3% of Orbit International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Novanta shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Orbit International and Novanta, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orbit International	0	0	0	0	0.00
Novanta	0	1	0	0	2.00

Novanta has a consensus target price of $133.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.64%. Given Novanta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Novanta is more favorable than Orbit International.

Profitability

This table compares Orbit International and Novanta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orbit International	-11.59%	-19.05%	-13.10%
Novanta	6.41%	14.70%	7.88%

Risk & Volatility

Orbit International has a beta of 0.08, meaning that its stock price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novanta has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Novanta beats Orbit International on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orbit International

Orbit International Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of electronic components and subsystems, and commercial and custom power units for prime contractors, government procurement agencies, and research and development laboratories worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Electronics Group and Power Group. The Electronics Group segment designs, manufactures, and sells customized electronic components and subsystems. This segment offers remote control units, intercommunication panels, displays, keyboards, keypads and pointing devices, operator control trays, and command display units, as well as provides LCD display modules, military simulation and training bezels, electronic control assemblies, and multi-function displays design and enhancement services. The Power Group segment designs and manufactures commercial power units, AC power, frequency converters, uninterruptible power supplies, armament systems, and commercial-off-the-shelf power solutions, as well as inverters. The company was formerly known as Orbit Instrument Corp. and changed its name to Orbit International Corp. in July 1991. Orbit International Corp. was founded in 1957 and is based in Hauppauge, New York.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc. engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products. The Vision segment offers a range of medical grade technologies, including medical insufflators, pumps and related disposables, surgical displays and operating room integration technologies, optical data collection and machine vision technologies, radio frequency identification technologies, thermal printers, spectrometry technologies, and embedded touch screen solutions. The Precision Motion segment includes optical encoders, precision motor and motion control technology, air bearing spindles, and precision machined components to customers. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Bedford, MA.