Financial Survey: AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) & LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT)

LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT) and AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.1% of LiqTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of AGCO shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of LiqTech International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of AGCO shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares LiqTech International and AGCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiqTech International	-63.18%	-69.03%	-32.37%
AGCO	5.15%	10.09%	3.58%

Volatility and Risk

LiqTech International has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AGCO has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LiqTech International and AGCO”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiqTech International	$16.51 million	1.43	-$8.60 million	($0.84)	-0.85
AGCO	$10.08 billion	0.83	$726.50 million	$7.23	16.57

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for LiqTech International and AGCO, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiqTech International	1	1	1	0	2.00
AGCO	3	6	5	0	2.14

LiqTech International presently has a consensus target price of $1.30, indicating a potential upside of 81.79%. AGCO has a consensus target price of $122.17, indicating a potential upside of 1.98%. Given LiqTech International’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe LiqTech International is more favorable than AGCO.

Summary

AGCO beats LiqTech International on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiqTech International

LiqTech International, Inc., a clean technology company, designs, develops, produces, markets, and sells automated filtering systems, ceramic silicon carbide liquid applications, and diesel particulate air filters in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. The company operates through Water, Ceramics, and Plastics segments. It also manufactures and sells silicon carbide ceramic filtration technologies for liquid and gas purification; and diesel particulate filters for exhaust emission control solutions to the verified retrofit and the original equipment manufacturer market. In addition, the company develops, manufactures, and sells liquid filtration systems, which are used for the marine scrubber systems, filtration of produced water, industrial applications, pool and spa water, food and beverage application, and silicon carbide membrane technology. Further, it provides flexible and plastics manufacturing products for machining, welding, bending, and solvent cementing. LiqTech International, Inc. sells its products primarily to industrial customers through direct sales, systems integrators, distributors, agents, and partners. The company was formerly known as Blue Moose Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiqTech International, Inc. in October 2011. LiqTech International, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark.

About AGCO

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses. The company also provides grain storage bins and related drying and handling equipment systems; seed-processing systems; swine and poultry feed storage and delivery; ventilation and watering systems; and egg production systems and broiler production equipment. In addition, it offers round and rectangular balers, loader wagons, self-propelled windrowers, forage harvesters, disc mowers, spreaders, rakes, tedders, and mower conditioners for harvesting and packaging vegetative feeds used in the beef cattle, dairy, horse, and renewable fuel industries. Further, the company provides implements, including disc harrows leveling seed beds and mixing chemicals with the soils; heavy tillage to break up soil and mix crop residue into topsoil; field cultivators that prepare smooth seed bed and destroy weeds; drills for small grain seeding; planters and other planting equipment; and loaders. Additionally, it offers combines for harvesting grain crops, such as corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice; and application equipment, such as self-propelled, three- and four-wheeled vehicles, and related equipment for liquid and dry fertilizers and crop protection chemicals, and for after crops emerge from the ground, as well as produces diesel engines, gears, and generating sets. The company markets its products under the Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson, Precision Planting, and Valtra brands through a network of independent dealers and distributors. AGCO Corporation was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.