Head-To-Head Survey: Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) & Standex International (NYSE:SXI)

Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) and Standex International (NYSE:SXI) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alta Equipment Group and Standex International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alta Equipment Group	$1.82 billion	0.13	-$62.10 million	($2.51)	-2.93
Standex International	$868.58 million	3.55	$55.76 million	$4.46	57.12

Standex International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Alta Equipment Group. Alta Equipment Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Standex International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Alta Equipment Group has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standex International has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Alta Equipment Group and Standex International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alta Equipment Group	1	3	1	1	2.33
Standex International	0	1	4	0	2.80

Alta Equipment Group currently has a consensus price target of $11.00, indicating a potential upside of 49.46%. Standex International has a consensus price target of $281.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.43%. Given Alta Equipment Group’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Alta Equipment Group is more favorable than Standex International.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.6% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.3% of Standex International shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.2% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Standex International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Alta Equipment Group and Standex International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alta Equipment Group	-4.34%	-175.61%	-5.41%
Standex International	6.20%	14.29%	6.44%

Dividends

Alta Equipment Group pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Standex International pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Alta Equipment Group pays out -8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Standex International pays out 30.5% 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. Standex International has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Alta Equipment Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Standex International beats Alta Equipment Group on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alta Equipment Group

Alta Equipment Group Inc. owns and operates integrated equipment dealership platforms in the United States. It operates through three segments: Material Handling, Construction Equipment, and Master Distribution. The company operates a branch network that sells, rents, and provides parts and service support for various categories of specialized equipment, including lift trucks and other material handling equipment, heavy and compact earthmoving equipment, crushing and screening equipment, environmental processing equipment, cranes and aerial work platforms, paving and asphalt equipment, and other construction equipment and related products. It also offers repair and maintenance services for its equipment. In addition, the company designs and builds warehouses; provides automated equipment installation and system integration solutions; and distributes environmental processing equipment. It serves various manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive, municipal/government, education, pharmaceutical and medical, wholesale and retail distribution, construction, agriculture, road building, mining, recycling, and waste management sectors. Alta Equipment Group Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan.

About Standex International

Standex International Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of various products and services for commercial and industrial markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Electronics, Engraving, Scientific, Engineering Technologies, and Specialty Solutions. The Electronics segment offers reed relays, fluid level, proximity, motion, flow, HVAC condensate, and custom electronics sensors; and custom wound transformers and inductors for low and high frequency, current sense technology, advanced planar transformer technology, value added assembly, and mechanical packaging applications under the Standex Electronics, Renco, and Agile Magnetics. The Engraving segment provides mold texturizing, slush molding tools, roll engraving, hygiene product tooling, and low observation vents, as well as project management and design services for stealth aircraft; and process machinery for various industries under the Piazza Rosa, World Client Services, Tenibac-Graphion, GS Engineering, and Innovent brand names. The Scientific segment offers temperature-controlled equipment for the medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, biotech, and industrial markets under the American BioTech Supply, Lab Research Products, Corepoint, Cryosafe, CryoGuard, and Scientific brands. The Engineering Technologies segment offers net and near net formed single-source customized solutions that are used in the manufacture of engineered components for the aviation, aerospace, defense, energy, industrial, medical, marine, oil and gas, and manned and unmanned space markets under the Spincraft brand. The Specialty Solutions segment manufactures and sells refrigerated, heated, and dry merchandizing display cases; and single and double acting telescopic, and piston rod hydraulic cylinders under the Federal and Custom Hoist brands. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire.