Analyzing Atlas Copco (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) & GEA Group (OTCMKTS:GEAGF)

GEA Group (OTCMKTS:GEAGF) and Atlas Copco (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for GEA Group and Atlas Copco, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GEA Group	0	2	0	1	2.67
Atlas Copco	1	4	4	0	2.33

Risk and Volatility

GEA Group has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlas Copco has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GEA Group and Atlas Copco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GEA Group	7.49%	18.50%	7.55%
Atlas Copco	15.70%	24.94%	13.21%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Atlas Copco shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares GEA Group and Atlas Copco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GEA Group	$5.87 billion	2.18	$416.65 million	$2.32	33.90
Atlas Copco	$17.21 billion	5.07	$2.70 billion	$0.55	32.53

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

Summary

Atlas Copco beats GEA Group on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GEA Group

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft engages in the development and production of systems and components to the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. It operates through Separation & Flow Technologies, Liquid & Power Technologies, Food & Health Technologies, Farm Technologies, and Heating & Refrigeration Technologies segments. The Separation & Flow Technologies segment manufacture process-related components and machinery including notably separators, decanters, homogenizers, valves, and pumps. The Liquid & Power Technologies segment offers brewing systems, liquid processing and filling, concentration, precision fermentation, crystallization, purification, drying, powder handling, and packaging, as well as systems for emission control for dairy, beverage, food, chemical, and other industries. The Food & Health Technologies segment engages in the preparation, marination, and processing of meat, poultry, seafood, and vegan products, pasta and confectionery products, baking, slicing, packaging, and frozen food processing for food processing industry; and provides tablet presses for pharmaceutical industry. The Farm Technologies segment offers customer solution for milk production and livestock farming, which includes automatic milking and feeding system, conventional milking solutions, manure handling, and digital herd management tool. The Heating & Refrigeration Technologies segment provides energy solution in the field of industrial refrigeration and heating for an array of industries including food, beverage, dairy, and oil and gas. The company was formerly known as mg technologies ag and changed its name to GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft in 2005. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

About Atlas Copco

Atlas Copco AB provides compressed air and gas, vacuum, energy, dewatering and industrial pump, industrial power tool, and assembly and machine vision solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Compressor Technique, Vacuum Technique, Industrial Technique, and Power Technique segments. The company offers piston compressors, oil-free tooth and scroll compressors, rotary screw compressors, oil-free blowers, oil-free centrifugal compressors, gas and process compressors, air and gas treatment equipment, expanders and pumps, and medical air solutions. It also provides oil-sealed rotary vane, dry, and liquid ring vacuum pumps; turbomolecular and cryogenic pumps; abatement and integrated systems; industrial assembly tools and solutions; self-pierce riveting solutions; adhesive dispensing and flow drill fastening equipment; material removal tools, and drills and other pneumatic products; machine vision solutions; construction and demolition tools; mobile compressors, generators, and energy storage systems; and industrial flow, portable power, portable flow, and portable air products, as well as specialty rental services. The company serves the semiconductor and flat panel, industrial manufacturing, civil engineering, demolition, exploration drilling, automotive, off-highway vehicles, electronics, aerospace, energy, food, pharmaceutical, textile, and other industries. Atlas Copco AB was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Nacka, Sweden.