DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE) & Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) Critical Comparison

DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DXP Enterprises and Trimble”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DXP Enterprises	$1.80 billion	1.11	$70.49 million	$5.24	24.23
Trimble	$3.68 billion	5.22	$1.50 billion	$1.16	69.59

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

Profitability

This table compares DXP Enterprises and Trimble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DXP Enterprises	4.52%	20.94%	6.77%
Trimble	8.02%	10.24%	6.23%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for DXP Enterprises and Trimble, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DXP Enterprises	0	0	3	0	3.00
Trimble	0	1	8	1	3.00

DXP Enterprises currently has a consensus price target of $95.00, indicating a potential downside of 25.18%. Trimble has a consensus price target of $91.22, indicating a potential upside of 13.01%. Given Trimble’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than DXP Enterprises.

Risk & Volatility

DXP Enterprises has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trimble has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.8% of DXP Enterprises shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. 22.7% of DXP Enterprises shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Trimble beats DXP Enterprises on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DXP Enterprises

DXP Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in distributing maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products, equipment, and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: Service Centers (SC), Supply Chain Services (SCS), and Innovative Pumping Solutions (IPS). The SC segment offers MRO products, equipment, and integrated services, including technical expertise and logistics services. It offers a range of MRO products in the rotating equipment, bearing, power transmission, hose, fluid power, metal working, fastener, industrial supply, safety products, and safety services categories. This segment serves customers in the oil and gas, food and beverage, petrochemical, transportation, other general industrial, mining, construction, chemical, municipal, agriculture, and pulp and paper industries. The SCS segment manages procurement and inventory vinventory optimization and management, storeroom management, transaction consolidation and control, vendor oversight and procurement cost optimization, productivity improvement, and customized reporting services. Its programs include SmartAgreement, a procurement solution for various MRO categories; SmartBuy, an on-site or centralized MRO procurement solution; SmartSource, an on-site procurement and storeroom management solution; SmartStore, an e-Catalog solution; SmartVend, an industrial dispensing solution; and SmartServ, an integrated service pump solution. The IPS segment fabricates and assembles custom-made pump packages; remanufactures pumps; and manufactures branded private label pumps. DXP Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1908 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.