Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) vs. Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF) Critical Comparison

Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) and Keyence (OTCMKTS:KYCCF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Broadwind Energy and Keyence, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Broadwind Energy	0	2	1	0	2.33
Keyence	0	1	0	0	2.00

Broadwind Energy presently has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 157.51%. Given Broadwind Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Broadwind Energy is more favorable than Keyence.

Volatility and Risk

Broadwind Energy has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Keyence has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Broadwind Energy and Keyence”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Broadwind Energy	$143.14 million	0.38	$1.15 million	$0.22	10.59
Keyence	$7.06 billion	12.67	$2.66 billion	N/A	N/A

Keyence has higher revenue and earnings than Broadwind Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Broadwind Energy and Keyence’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Broadwind Energy	3.37%	-2.05%	-0.99%
Keyence	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.3% of Broadwind Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Broadwind Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Broadwind Energy beats Keyence on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Broadwind Energy

Broadwind, Inc. manufactures and sells structures, equipment, and components for clean tech and other specialized applications primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Heavy Fabrications, Gearing, and Industrial Solutions. The Heavy Fabrications segment provides fabrications to various industrial markets. It offers steel towers and adapters primarily to wind turbine manufacturers. Its Gearing segment provides gearing, gearboxes, and precision machined components to a range of customers in diverse markets, including surface and underground mining, wind energy, steel, material handling, infrastructure, onshore and offshore oil and gas fracking and drilling, marine, and other industrial markets. This segment also offers heat treat services for aftermarket and original equipment manufacturer applications. The Industrial Solutions segment provides supply chain solutions for offering instrumentation and controls, valve assemblies, sensor devices, fuel system components, electrical junction boxes and wiring, energy storage services, and electromechanical devices; light fabrication, inventory management, and kitting and assembly services; packaging solutions; and supply chain solutions, light fabrication, inventory management, and kitting and assembly services for combined cycle natural gas turbine market. It sells its products to the energy, mining, and infrastructure sectors through its direct sales force and independent sales agents. The company was formerly known as Broadwind Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Broadwind, Inc. in May 2020. Broadwind, Inc. is headquartered in Cicero, Illinois.

About Keyence

Keyence Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of factory automation solutions in Japan, China, the United States, and internationally. The company offers photoelectric, fiber optic, laser, positioning, vision, specific solution, and inductive proximity sensors, as well as network communication units. It also provides measurement sensors, such as laser displacement and profiler, optical/laser micrometer, inductive displacement sensor, 3D interference measurement, spectral interference displacement, and contact displacement/LVDT sensors; and measurement systems, including optical comparators, 3D scanners, multisensor measurement, and CMM/laser trackers. In addition, the company provides safety products comprising safety laser scanners, light curtains, interlock switches, and controllers; and pressure, flow, level, and temperature sensors for monitoring equipment processes. Further, it offers static eliminators/ionizers and electrostatic sensors, which protect workers, machinery, and products from the damaging effects of electrostatic charge; vision systems and sensors; and programmable logic controllers, servo motor and system, and other controls that are used for machine control applications. Additionally, the company provides barcode and handheld scanners; laser marking systems/laser markers, UV laser coder, and industrial continuous inkjet printers; digital, 3D surface profilers, elemental analyzers, optical profilometers, and fluorescence microscopes; data loggers; and mobile/ handheld computers. It serves customers in automotive, semiconductors/LCDs, electronic devices, food/pharmaceutical, medical technology, logistics, metals, plastics, and films/sheets industries. Keyence Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.