Head to Head Analysis: AMETEK (NYSE:AME) versus Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA)

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA) and AMETEK (NYSE:AME) are both large-cap technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Zebra Technologies has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMETEK has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zebra Technologies and AMETEK”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zebra Technologies	$5.40 billion	3.38	$419.00 million	$10.93	34.99
AMETEK	$7.40 billion	7.97	$1.48 billion	$6.84	37.64

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

Profitability

This table compares Zebra Technologies and AMETEK’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zebra Technologies	9.22%	22.29%	9.46%
AMETEK	20.04%	16.93%	11.26%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Zebra Technologies and AMETEK, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zebra Technologies	0	4	9	0	2.69
AMETEK	0	5	10	1	2.75

Zebra Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $381.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.38%. AMETEK has a consensus target price of $266.80, indicating a potential upside of 3.62%. Given AMETEK’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AMETEK is more favorable than Zebra Technologies.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.0% of Zebra Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of AMETEK shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Zebra Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of AMETEK shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

AMETEK beats Zebra Technologies on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Intelligence & Tracking, and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility. The company designs, manufactures, and sells printers that produce labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards; dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce images, which are used for personal identification, access control, and financial transactions; radio frequency identification device (RFID) printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders; accessories and options for printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts, and battery chargers; stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags for printers; and temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution. It also provides various maintenance, technical support, repair, and managed and professional services; fixed readers, RFID enabled mobile computers, and RFID sleds; tags, sensors, exciters, middleware software, and application software; and physical inventory management solutions, and rugged and enterprise-grade mobile computing products and accessories, as well as real-time location systems and services. In addition, the company offers barcode scanners and imagers, RFID readers, industrial machine vision cameras, and fixed industrial scanners; workforce management, workflow execution and task management, and prescriptive analytics, as well as communications and collaboration solutions; and cloud-based software subscriptions, retail, and robotics automation solutions. The company serves retail and e-commerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, public sector, and other industries through direct sales force, and network of channel partners. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

About AMETEK

AMETEK, Inc. manufactures and sells electronic instruments and electromechanical devices in the North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and internationally. The company's EIG segment offers advanced instruments for the process, aerospace, power, and industrial markets; process and analytical instruments for the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, automation, and food and beverage industries; instruments to the laboratory equipment, ultra-precision manufacturing, medical, and test and measurement markets; power quality monitoring and c devices, uninterruptible power supplies, programmable power and electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, and sensors for gas turbines and dashboard instruments; heavy trucks, instrumentation, and controls for the food and beverage industries; and aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, embedded computing, monitoring, fuel and fluid measurement, and data acquisition systems for aerospace and defense industry. Its EMG segment offers engineered medical components and devices, automation solutions, thermal management systems, specialty metals, and electrical interconnects; single-use and consumable surgical instruments, implantable components, and drug delivery systems; engineered electrical connectors and electronics packaging to protect sensitive devices and mission-critical electronics; precision motion control products for data storage, medical devices, business equipment, and automation; high-purity powdered metals, strips and foils, specialty clad metals, and metal matrix composites; motor-blower systems and heat exchangers for thermal management, military and commercial aircraft, and military ground vehicles; motors for commercial appliances, food and beverage machines, hydraulic pumps, and industrial blowers; and operates a network of aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities. AMETEK, Inc. was incorporated in 1930 and is headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.