Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) and Star Group (NYSE:SGU) Head-To-Head Contrast

Bel Fuse (NASDAQ:BELFA) and Star Group (NYSE:SGU) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Bel Fuse has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Star Group has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bel Fuse and Star Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bel Fuse	9.11%	21.78%	9.42%
Star Group	4.16%	23.03%	7.61%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.0% of Bel Fuse shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of Star Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Bel Fuse shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.4% of Star Group shares are owned 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.

Dividends

Bel Fuse pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Star Group pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Bel Fuse pays out 5.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Star Group pays out 46.8% 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. Bel Fuse has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Star Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Star Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bel Fuse and Star Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bel Fuse	$675.46 million	4.01	$61.54 million	$4.65	46.02
Star Group	$1.78 billion	0.23	$73.50 million	$1.58	8.01

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Bel Fuse and Star Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bel Fuse	0	1	0	1	3.00
Star Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Bel Fuse presently has a consensus target price of $250.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.83%. Given Bel Fuse’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Bel Fuse is more favorable than Star Group.

Summary

Bel Fuse beats Star Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bel Fuse

Bel Fuse Inc. designs, manufactures, markets, and sells products that power, protect, and connect electronic circuits. The company's products are used in the networking, telecommunications, computing, general industrial, high-speed data transmission, military, commercial aerospace, transportation, and e-Mobility industries. It provides power solutions and protection products, including front-end power supplies, board-mount power products, industrial and transportation power products, external power products, and circuit protection products. The company also offers connectivity solutions, such as expanded beam fiber optic connectors, cable assemblies, and active optical devices; copper-based connectors/cable assemblies; radio frequency connectors, cable assemblies, microwave devices, and low loss cables; and ethernet, I/O, and industrial and power connectivity products. In addition, it provides magnetic solutions comprising integrated connector modules, power transformers, SMD power inductors and SMPS transformers, and ethernet discrete components. The company sells its products through direct strategic account managers, regional sales managers working with independent sales representative organizations, and authorized distributors in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Macao, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Germany, India, Switzerland, and internationally. Bel Fuse Inc. was incorporated in 1949 and is headquartered in West Orange, New Jersey.

About Star Group

Star Group, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides home heating oil and propane products and services to residential and commercial customers in the United States. It offers gasoline and diesel fuel; and installs, maintain, and repairs heating and air conditioning equipment. As of September 30, 2023, the company served approximately 402,200 full service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers and 52,400 customers on a delivery only basis. It also sells gasoline and diesel fuel to approximately 26,600 customers. The company was formerly known as Star Gas Partners, L.P. and changed its name to Star Group, L.P. in October 2017. Star Group, L.P. was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.