Knowles (NYSE:KN) vs. AAP (OTCMKTS:AAPJ) Head to Head Review

Knowles (NYSE:KN) and AAP (OTCMKTS:AAPJ) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Knowles and AAP”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knowles	$573.50 million	3.37	-$237.80 million	$0.48	47.26
AAP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

AAP has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Knowles.

Risk & Volatility

Knowles has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AAP has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.3% of Knowles shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Knowles shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of AAP shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knowles	7.27%	8.98%	6.15%
AAP	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Knowles and AAP, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knowles	0	2	2	0	2.50
AAP	0	0	0	0	0.00

Knowles currently has a consensus target price of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.02%. Given Knowles’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Knowles is more favorable than AAP.

Summary

Knowles beats AAP on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About AAP

AAP, Inc. engages in the debt collection, infrastructure construction, business, and real estate development business. The company was formerly known as Borneo Energy USA, Inc. and changed its name to AAP, Inc. in September 2011. AAP, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming.