Comparing Ultralife (NASDAQ:ULBI) & LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for LightPath Technologies and Ultralife, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightPath Technologies	1	1	3	1	2.67
Ultralife	1	0	0	0	1.00

LightPath Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $9.13, suggesting a potential upside of 2.25%. Given LightPath Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LightPath Technologies is more favorable than Ultralife.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightPath Technologies	-36.76%	-60.07%	-16.13%
Ultralife	0.92%	1.66%	1.02%

Risk and Volatility

LightPath Technologies has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ultralife has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LightPath Technologies and Ultralife”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightPath Technologies	$37.20 million	10.92	-$14.87 million	($0.39)	-22.88
Ultralife	$164.46 million	0.60	$6.31 million	$0.10	59.15

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

56.3% of LightPath Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of Ultralife shares are held by institutional investors. 24.8% of LightPath Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 40.0% of Ultralife shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ultralife beats LightPath Technologies on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 Ultralife

Ultralife Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, installs, and maintains power, and communication and electronics systems worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Battery & Energy Products and Communications Systems. The Battery & Energy Products segment offers lithium 9-volt, cylindrical, thin lithium manganese dioxide, rechargeable, and other non-rechargeable batteries; lithium-ion cells, multi-kilowatt module lithium-ion battery systems, and uninterruptable power supplies; and rugged military and commercial battery charging systems and accessories, including smart chargers, multi-bay charging systems, and various cables. The Communications Systems segment provides communications systems and accessories to support military communications systems, such as radio frequency amplifiers, power supplies and cables, connector assemblies, amplified speakers, equipment mounts, case equipment, man-portable systems, and integrated communication systems for fixed or vehicle applications comprising vehicle adapters, vehicle installed power enhanced rifleman appliqué systems, and SATCOM systems. This segment's military communications systems and accessories are designed to enhance and extend the operation of communications equipment, such as vehicle-mounted, manpack, and handheld transceivers. The company sells its products under the Ultralife, Ultralife HiRate, Ultralife Thin Cell, Ultralife Batteries, Lithium Power, McDowell Research, AMTITM, ABLETM, ACCUTRONICS, ACCUPRO, ENTELLION, SWE Southwest Electronic Energy Group, SWE SEASAFE, Excell Battery Group, and Criterion Gauge brands through original equipment manufacturers, and industrial and defense supply distributors. In addition, it sells its 9-volt battery to the broader consumer market through national and regional retail chains and online retailers. It serves government, defense, and commercial sectors. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Newark, New York.