Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE – Get Free Report) and Brady (NYSE:BRC – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
Lakeland Industries has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brady has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lakeland Industries and Brady, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Lakeland Industries | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Brady | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.50 |
Dividends
Lakeland Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Brady pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lakeland Industries pays out -4.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brady pays out 24.9% 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. Lakeland Industries has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Brady has raised its dividend for 39 consecutive years. Brady is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
71.7% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.3% of Brady shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.6% of Brady shares are held 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.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Lakeland Industries and Brady”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Lakeland Industries | $167.21 million | 0.92 | -$18.08 million | ($2.74) | -5.88 |
| Brady | $1.51 billion | 2.37 | $189.26 million | $3.93 | 19.36 |
Brady has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeland Industries. Lakeland Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brady, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Lakeland Industries and Brady’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Lakeland Industries | -11.22% | -3.07% | -2.01% |
| Brady | 12.50% | 19.29% | 13.31% |
Summary
Brady beats Lakeland Industries on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Lakeland Industries
Lakeland Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market worldwide. It offers firefighting and heat protective apparel to protect against fire; high-end chemical protective suits to provide protection from highly concentrated, toxic and/or lethal chemicals, and biological toxins; and limited use/disposable protective clothing, such as coveralls, laboratory coats, shirts, pants, hoods, aprons, sleeves, arm guards, caps, and smocks. The company provides durable woven garments, including electrostatic dissipative apparel used in electronics clean rooms; flame resistant meta aramid, para aramid, and FR cotton coveralls/pants/jackets used in petrochemical, refining operations, and electrical utilities; FR fabrics; and cotton and polycotton coveralls, lab coats, pants, and shirts. In addition, it provides high visibility clothing comprising reflective apparel, including vests, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, coats, raingear, jumpsuits, hats, and gloves; and gloves and sleeves that are used in the automotive, glass, and metal fabrication industries. The company sells its products to a network of safety and industrial supply distributors through in-house sales teams, customer service group, and independent sales representatives. It serves end users, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories, and the utilities industry; and federal, state, and local governmental agencies and departments. Lakeland Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.
About Brady
Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions (IDS) and workplace safety (WPS) products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The company offers materials, printing systems, RFID, and bar code scanners for product identification, brand protection labeling, work in process labeling, finished product identification, and industrial track and trace applications; safety signs, floor-marking tapes, pipe markers, labeling systems, spill control products, lockout/tagout device, and software and services for safety compliance auditing, procedure writing, and training; and hand-held printers, wire markers, sleeves, and tags for wire identification. It also provides name tags, badges, lanyards, rigid card printing systems, and access control software for people identification; and wristbands, labels, printing systems, and other products for tracking and improving the safety of patients. In addition, the company offers workplace safety, identification, and compliance products, such as safety and compliance signs, tags, labels, and markings; informational signage and markings; asset tracking labels; facility safety and personal protection equipment; first-aid products; and other compliance products for process, government, education, construction, and utilities industries. Further, it provides stock and custom identification products; and sells related resale products. The company serves industrial and electronic manufacturing, healthcare, chemical, oil, gas, automotive, aerospace, governments, mass transit, electrical contractors, education, leisure and entertainment, telecommunications, and other industries through distributors, direct sales force, and digital channels. Brady Corporation was incorporated in 1914 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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