Contrasting ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) & Advent Technologies (NASDAQ:ADN)

Advent Technologies (NASDAQ:ADN) and ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.5% of Advent Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Advent Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Advent Technologies and ESCO Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Advent Technologies	N/A	N/A	-239.12%
ESCO Technologies	10.37%	11.19%	7.12%

Volatility and Risk

Advent Technologies has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ESCO Technologies has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Advent Technologies and ESCO Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Advent Technologies	$115,000.00	27.67	-$40.99 million	($6.31)	-0.14
ESCO Technologies	$1.10 billion	5.09	$101.88 million	$11.55	18.68

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Advent Technologies and ESCO Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Advent Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00
ESCO Technologies	0	0	3	0	3.00

ESCO Technologies has a consensus target price of $187.50, indicating a potential downside of 13.08%. Given ESCO Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ESCO Technologies is more favorable than Advent Technologies.

Summary

ESCO Technologies beats Advent Technologies on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Advent Technologies

Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc., an advanced materials and technology development company, operates in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology markets in North America, Europe, and Asia. It develops, manufactures, and assembles fuel cell systems and critical components that determine the performance of hydrogen fuel cells and other energy systems. The company offers high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cells, including membrane electrode assemblies, bipolar plates, and reformers, as well as provides fuel-cell stack assembly and testing services. It serves stationary power, portable power, automotive, aviation, energy storage, and sensor markets. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About ESCO Technologies

ESCO Technologies Inc. produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines. It also designs, develops, and manufactures elastomeric-based signature reduction solutions for U.S. naval vessels; and mission-critical bushings, pins, sleeves, and precision-tolerance machined components for landing gear, rotor heads, engine mounts, flight controls, and actuation systems for the aerospace and defense industries. The Utility Solutions Group segment provides diagnostic testing solutions that enable electric power grid operators to assess the integrity of high-voltage power delivery equipment; and decision support tools for the renewable energy industry, primarily wind and solar. The RF Test & Measurement segment designs and manufactures RF test and secure communication facilities, acoustic test enclosures, RF and magnetically shielded rooms, RF measurement systems, and broadcast and recording studios; and RF absorptive materials, filters, antennas, field probes, test cells, proprietary measurement software, and other test accessories to perform various tests. The company distributes its products through a network of distributors, sales representatives, direct sales teams, and in-house sales personnel. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.