Reviewing Graham (NYSE:GHM) & Dover (NYSE:DOV)

Graham (NYSE:GHM) and Dover (NYSE:DOV) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Graham and Dover’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graham	6.28%	13.26%	6.07%
Dover	13.52%	17.87%	10.06%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Graham and Dover”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Graham	$209.90 million	4.23	$12.23 million	$1.35	59.47
Dover	$8.09 billion	3.49	$1.09 billion	$7.94	26.37

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.5% of Graham shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Dover shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of Graham shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Dover shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Graham and Dover, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Graham	0	3	3	0	2.50
Dover	0	4	9	0	2.69

Graham currently has a consensus price target of $81.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.73%. Dover has a consensus price target of $225.67, indicating a potential upside of 7.77%. Given Dover’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Dover is more favorable than Graham.

Risk and Volatility

Graham has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dover has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Dover beats Graham on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Graham

Graham Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures fluid, power, heat transfer, and vacuum equipment for chemical and petrochemical processing, defense, space, petroleum refining, cryogenic, energy, and other industries. It offers power plant systems, including ejectors and surface condensers; torpedo ejection, propulsion, and power systems, such as turbines, alternators, regulators, pumps, and blowers; and thermal management systems comprising pumps, blowers, and drive electronics for defense sector. The company also provides rocket propulsion systems consisting of turbopumps and fuel pumps; cooling systems, which include pumps, compressors, fans, and blowers; and life support systems that comprise fans, pumps, and blowers for space industry. In addition, it offers heat transfer and vacuum systems, including ejectors, process and surface condensers, liquid ring pumps, heat exchangers, and nozzles; power generation systems, such as turbines, generators, compressors, and pumps; and thermal management systems comprising pumps, blowers, and electronics for energy sector. Further, the company offers heat transfer and vacuum systems consisting of ejectors, process and surface condensers, liquid ring pumps, heat exchangers, and nozzles for chemical and petrochemical processing industry. The company also services and sells spare parts for its equipment. It sells its products directly in the United States, the Middle East, Canada, Asia, South America, and internationally. Graham Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Batavia, New York.

About Dover

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market. This segment offers manual and power clamp, rotary and linear mechanical indexer, conveyor, pick and place unit, glove port, and manipulator, as well as end-of-arm robotic gripper, slide, and end effector; winches, hoists, bearings, drives, and electric monitoring system; and radio frequency and microwave filters and switches, and signal intelligence solutions. Its Clean Energy & Fueling segment offers component, equipment, and software and service solution enabling safe storage and transport of fuel, cryogenic gases, and hazardous fluids, as well as operation of retail fueling and vehicle wash establishment. The company's Imaging & Identification segment provides precision marking and coding, product traceability equipment, brand protection, and digital textile printing equipment and solution, as well as related consumable, software, and service to packaged and consumer goods, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, fashion and apparel, and other end-market. Its Pumps & Process Solutions segment manufactures specialty pump, connector, flow meter, fluid connecting solution, plastics and polymer processing equipment, and engineered components for rotating and reciprocating machines. The company's Climate & Sustainability Technologies segment manufactures refrigeration system, refrigeration display case, commercial glass refrigerator and freezer door, and brazed plate heat exchanger for industrial heating and cooling, and residential climate control applications. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.