Rectitude (NASDAQ:RECT) and Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE) Critical Contrast

Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ:LAKE) and Rectitude (NASDAQ:RECT) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Lakeland Industries and Rectitude’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lakeland Industries	-19.41%	-7.80%	-5.08%
Rectitude	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Lakeland Industries has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rectitude has a beta of 0.1, indicating that its stock price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Lakeland Industries and Rectitude, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lakeland Industries	2	1	2	0	2.00
Rectitude	1	0	0	0	1.00

Lakeland Industries presently has a consensus price target of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 90.97%. Given Lakeland Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lakeland Industries is more favorable than Rectitude.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lakeland Industries and Rectitude”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lakeland Industries	$167.21 million	0.51	-$18.08 million	($4.39)	-1.97
Rectitude	$43.80 million	0.56	$1.66 million	N/A	N/A

Rectitude has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lakeland Industries.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.7% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Lakeland Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Lakeland Industries beats Rectitude on 7 of the 12 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 Rectitude

Rectitude Holdings Ltd is principally involved in the provision of safety equipment, encompassing essential items such as personal protective clothing, gloves, safety footwear, personal fall arrest systems, portable fire extinguishers and traffic products. The Company also offers auxiliary products such as industrial hardware tools and electrical hardware required for construction sites. Rectitude Holdings Ltd is based in SINGAPORE.