Contrasting Twin Disc (NASDAQ:TWIN) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB)

Twin Disc (NASDAQ:TWIN) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.3% of Twin Disc shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. 22.1% of Twin Disc shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Twin Disc and Trimble, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Twin Disc	0	1	1	0	2.50
Trimble	0	2	10	0	2.83

Trimble has a consensus price target of $90.00, suggesting a potential upside of 59.74%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Trimble is more favorable than Twin Disc.

Risk and Volatility

Twin Disc has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trimble has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Twin Disc and Trimble”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Twin Disc	$340.74 million	0.68	-$1.89 million	$1.84	8.69
Trimble	$3.59 billion	3.66	$424.00 million	$1.90	29.65

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

Profitability

This table compares Twin Disc and Trimble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Twin Disc	7.32%	2.77%	1.29%
Trimble	12.38%	11.61%	7.32%

Summary

Trimble beats Twin Disc on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Twin Disc

Twin Disc, Incorporated engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of marine and heavy duty off-highway power transmission equipment in the United States, the Netherlands, China, Australia, Italy, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Manufacturing and Distribution. Its principal products include marine transmissions, azimuth drives, surface drives, propellers, and boat management systems, as well as power-shift transmissions, hydraulic torque converters, power take-offs, industrial clutches, and controls systems. The company also provides third-party manufactured products. It sells its products through a direct sales force and distributor network to customers primarily in the pleasure craft, commercial marine, patrol, and military marine markets, as well as in the energy and natural resources, government, agriculture, recycling, construction, oil and gas, and industrial markets. The company was incorporated in 1918 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.