Head to Head Survey: ClearOne (NASDAQ:CLRO) versus Knowles (NYSE:KN)

ClearOne (NASDAQ:CLRO) and Knowles (NYSE:KN) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

ClearOne has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Knowles has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ClearOne and Knowles”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ClearOne	$9.69 million	0.76	-$8.98 million	($6.15)	-0.69
Knowles	$563.10 million	3.10	-$237.80 million	$0.29	70.07

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

Profitability

This table compares ClearOne and Knowles’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ClearOne	-120.46%	-58.11%	-44.48%
Knowles	4.40%	8.22%	5.57%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

9.6% of ClearOne shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Knowles shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of ClearOne shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Knowles shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for ClearOne and Knowles, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ClearOne	0	0	0	0	0.00
Knowles	0	1	2	0	2.67

Knowles has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.35%. Given Knowles’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Knowles is more favorable than ClearOne.

Summary

Knowles beats ClearOne on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ClearOne

ClearOne, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and sells conferencing, collaboration, and network streaming solutions for voice and visual communications in the United States and internationally. The company offers a range of audio conferencing products, including professional audio conferencing and sound-reinforcement products for use in enterprise, healthcare, education and distance learning, government, legal, and finance organizations; mid-tier premium conferencing products for smaller rooms, and small and medium businesses, which interface with video and Web conferencing systems; USB-based personal and group speakerphones that could be used with PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other portable devices; and traditional tabletop conferencing phones used in conference rooms and offices. It provides professional microphones consisting of beamforming microphones, ceiling microphones, and wireless microphones. In addition, the company offers video products, such as video conferencing and collaboration solutions; professional-grade cameras; and AV networking, which deliver the IP A/V experience by streaming time sensitive high definition audio and video, and control over TCP/IP networks. It sells its commercial products to a network of independent professional audiovisual, information technology, and telecommunications distributors, as well as systems integrators, dealers, value-added resellers, and end-users. ClearOne, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM). The PD segment designs and delivers film, electrolytic, and mica capacitor products for use in power supplies and medical implants; electromagnetic interference filters; and RF filtering solutions for use in satellite communications and radar systems for defense applications. The MSA segment designs and manufactures balanced armature speakers and microphones for the hearing health, audio, and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets. The CMM segment designs and manufactures micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphones and audio solutions used in applications that serve the ear, mobile, TWS, Internet of Things, computing, and smartphones markets. The company serves the defense, medtech, electric vehicle, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics markets through original equipment manufacturers, their contract manufacturers, suppliers, sales representatives, and distributors. Knowles Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.