Reviewing LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) & Nidec (OTCMKTS:NJDCY)

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) and Nidec (OTCMKTS:NJDCY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

LightPath Technologies has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nidec has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for LightPath Technologies and Nidec, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightPath Technologies	1	1	4	0	2.50
Nidec	0	1	0	0	2.00

LightPath Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $6.50, suggesting a potential downside of 25.12%. Given LightPath Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe LightPath Technologies is more favorable than Nidec.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LightPath Technologies and Nidec”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightPath Technologies	$37.20 million	10.42	-$14.87 million	($0.36)	-24.11
Nidec	$17.12 billion	1.52	$1.11 billion	$0.23	11.87

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

Profitability

This table compares LightPath Technologies and Nidec’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightPath Technologies	-39.92%	-53.40%	-18.17%
Nidec	6.06%	9.18%	4.79%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.3% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Nidec shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.7% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About LightPath Technologies

LightPath Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes optical components and assemblies. The company offers precision molded glass aspheric optics, molded and diamond-turned infrared aspheric lenses, and other optical components used to produce products that manipulate light; and infrared products, including catalog and custom infrared optics. Its products are used in defense products, medical devices, laser aided industrial tools, automotive safety applications, barcode scanners, optical data storage, hybrid fiber coax datacom, telecommunications, machine vision and sensors, and other sectors. The company sells its products directly to customers in Europe and Asia. LightPath Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

About Nidec

Nidec Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells motors, electronics and optical components, and other related products in Japan and internationally. The company offers medium- and large-size motors, small-size and precision motors, motor-related products, units and modules, automotive components, mechanical equipment/machine tools, inspection and measuring equipment, electronic devices, sensors, and other products, as well as mold, molding, cutting, and machining components. Its products are used for applications in robotics, IoT products, automotive components, home appliances, logistics/agriculture, information technology, office automation, mobile optical components, medical and health care products, housing equipment, commercial and professional products, industrial machinery, and processing/inspection equipment. The company was incorporated in 1973 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan..