Critical Comparison: Alps Electric (OTCMKTS:APELY) and Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG)

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) and Alps Electric (OTCMKTS:APELY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Vishay Precision Group and Alps Electric, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vishay Precision Group	1	1	2	0	2.25
Alps Electric	1	0	0	1	2.50

Vishay Precision Group presently has a consensus target price of $53.67, indicating a potential upside of 21.53%. Given Vishay Precision Group’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Vishay Precision Group is more favorable than Alps Electric.

Risk and Volatility

Vishay Precision Group has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alps Electric has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vishay Precision Group and Alps Electric’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vishay Precision Group	1.72%	2.17%	1.56%
Alps Electric	5.06%	5.32%	2.99%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vishay Precision Group and Alps Electric”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vishay Precision Group	$307.20 million	1.91	$9.91 million	$0.40	110.40
Alps Electric	$6.50 billion	0.44	$249.72 million	$3.36	8.16

Alps Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Vishay Precision Group. Alps Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vishay Precision Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.6% of Vishay Precision Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Alps Electric shares are held by institutional investors. 7.7% of Vishay Precision Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Alps Electric shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Alps Electric beats Vishay Precision Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vishay Precision Group

Vishay Precision Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets specialized sensors, weighing solutions, and measurement systems in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Sensors, Weighing Solutions, and Measurement Systems. Its product portfolio includes precision resistors, strain gages, load cells and force measurement transducers, on-board weighing systems, and process weighing products; rolling force measuring load cell systems and pressure transmitters; web tension measurement load cells and systems; and optical strip width gages; and laser velocimeters for speed and length measurements and closed-loop crop optimization control systems for optimal strip cuts. The company also offers data acquisition systems and sensors for product safety testing; thermal-mechanical simulation systems for metallurgical research; and conditioning, data acquisition and control systems, as well as electronic displays, signal processors, microelectromechanical system sensors, cabling, system software, and communications software/hardware. Its products are used in industrial comprising waste management, bulk hauling, logging, scales manufacturing, engineering systems, pharmaceutical, oil, chemical, steel, paper, and food industries, as well as test and measurement, steel, medical, construction, agricultural, and consumer markets. The company offers its products under the Alpha Electronics, Powertron, Vishay Foil Resistors, Micro-Measurements, APR, Celtron, Revere, Sensortronics, Tedea-Huntleigh, Stress-tek, Vulcan, BLH Nobel, KELK, and DTS brands. Vishay Precision Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

About Alps Electric

Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells electronic components in Japan and internationally. It operates through four segments: Components, Sensor Communication, Module Systems, and Logistics. The company’s products for the consumer, industrial equipment, and IoT markets include TACT switches, worker condition monitoring systems, HAPTIC reactor, actuator for cameras, remote monitoring system for logistics, analog meter monitoring system, resistive position sensor, pressure sensor, air environment sensor module, three-axis geomagnetic sensor, humidity sensor, and pc board mount current sensor. Its products for the automotive market comprises TACT and detector switches, Encoder, aspherical glass lens with metal holder, HAPTIC reactor, trimagic converter, current sensor, magnetic sensor, millimeter-wave sensor, GNSS module, 5G NR module, power window switch, electric shifter, sound system, cabin controller, smart door trim, electric shifter, integrated display, premium sound speakers, and customized car products. The company also provides systems development, office, and financing and leasing services, as well as transportation, storage, and forwarding services. The company was formerly known as Alps Electric Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. in January 2019. The company was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.