Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB – Get Free Report) and Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Gates Industrial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Gates Industrial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Trimble and Gates Industrial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Trimble | 9.93% | 10.73% | 6.65% |
| Gates Industrial | 6.93% | 10.38% | 5.22% |
Risk & Volatility
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Trimble and Gates Industrial, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Trimble | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3.18 |
| Gates Industrial | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2.50 |
Trimble currently has a consensus price target of $96.67, indicating a potential upside of 20.85%. Gates Industrial has a consensus price target of $27.18, indicating a potential upside of 24.54%. Given Gates Industrial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gates Industrial is more favorable than Trimble.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Trimble and Gates Industrial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Trimble | $3.68 billion | 5.17 | $1.50 billion | $1.46 | 54.79 |
| Gates Industrial | $3.41 billion | 1.65 | $194.90 million | $0.91 | 23.98 |
Trimble has higher revenue and earnings than Gates Industrial. Gates Industrial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Trimble, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Trimble beats Gates Industrial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Gates Industrial
Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.
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