Contrasting Surge Component (OTCMKTS:SPRS) & Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS)

Surge Component (OTCMKTS:SPRS) and Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Surge Component and Littelfuse”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surge Component	$31.21 million	0.53	$830,000.00	$0.15	19.07
Littelfuse	$2.19 billion	2.97	$100.19 million	$4.80	54.69

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Littelfuse shares are held by institutional investors. 53.0% of Surge Component shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Littelfuse shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Surge Component and Littelfuse, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surge Component	0	0	0	0	0.00
Littelfuse	0	3	2	1	2.67

Littelfuse has a consensus price target of $292.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.42%. Given Littelfuse’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Littelfuse is more favorable than Surge Component.

Profitability

This table compares Surge Component and Littelfuse’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surge Component	2.56%	4.49%	3.47%
Littelfuse	5.30%	9.74%	6.15%

Volatility & Risk

Surge Component has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Littelfuse has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Littelfuse beats Surge Component on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Surge Component

Surge Components, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, supplies electronic products and components. It offers capacitors, which are electrical energy storage devices; and discrete semiconductor components, such as rectifiers, transistors, diodes, circuit protection devices, and audible components comprising audible transducers, Piezo buzzers, speakers, and microphones. The company also provides resonators, alarms, chimes, filters, and discriminators, as well as fuses, printed circuit boards, and switches. Its products are used in the electronic circuitry of various industries, including automotive, computer, communications, cellular telephones, consumer electronics, garage door openers, security equipment, audio equipment, telecom products, computer related products, power supply products, utility meters, and household appliances. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and distributors through independent sales representatives or organizations in Canada, China, other Asian countries, South America, and Europe. Surge Components, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Deer Park, New York.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors. This segment serves industrial motor drives and power conversion, automotive electronics, electric vehicle and related charging infrastructure, aerospace, power supplies, data centers, telecommunications, medical devices, alternative energy, building and home automation, appliances, and mobile electronics markets. The Transportation segment provides blade, resettable, and high-current and high-voltage fuses, as well as battery cable protectors; fuses, switches, relays, circuit breakers, and power distribution modules; and sensor products. This segment serves heavy-duty truck, construction, agriculture, material handling, and marine. The Industrial segment offers industrial fuses, protection relays, contactors, transformers, residual current devices, ground fault circuit interrupters, residual current monitors, arc fault detection devices, and temperature sensors for use in renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle infrastructure, HVAC systems, industrial safety, non-residential construction, MRO, mining, and factory automation. It sells its products through distributors, direct sales force, and manufacturers' representatives. Littelfuse, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.