Reviewing Enerpac Tool Group (NYSE:EPAC) & Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI)

Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI) and Enerpac Tool Group (NYSE:EPAC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Mueller Industries has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enerpac Tool Group has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Mueller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Enerpac Tool Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Mueller Industries pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enerpac Tool Group pays out 2.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Mueller Industries has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Mueller Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Mueller Industries and Enerpac Tool Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mueller Industries	18.25%	25.68%	21.80%
Enerpac Tool Group	14.72%	23.21%	12.10%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mueller Industries and Enerpac Tool Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mueller Industries	$4.66 billion	2.91	$765.19 million	$3.84	15.97
Enerpac Tool Group	$616.90 million	2.90	$92.75 million	$1.77	19.74

Mueller Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Enerpac Tool Group. Mueller Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Enerpac Tool Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Mueller Industries and Enerpac Tool Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mueller Industries	0	0	2	0	3.00
Enerpac Tool Group	0	3	1	0	2.25

Mueller Industries currently has a consensus target price of $75.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.32%. Enerpac Tool Group has a consensus target price of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.14%. Given Enerpac Tool Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Enerpac Tool Group is more favorable than Mueller Industries.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.5% of Mueller Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of Enerpac Tool Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Mueller Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Enerpac Tool Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Mueller Industries beats Enerpac Tool Group on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mueller Industries

Mueller Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples. It also resells steel pipes, brass and plastic plumbing valves, malleable iron fittings and faucets, and plumbing specialties; and supplies water tubes. This segment sells its products to wholesalers in the plumbing and refrigeration markets, distributors to the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries, building material retailers, and air-conditioning original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The Industrial Metals segment manufactures brass, bronze, and copper alloy rods; plumbing brass, valves, fittings, and gas assemblies; cold-form aluminum and copper products; machining of aluminum, steel, brass, and cast iron impacts and castings; brass and aluminum forgings; brass, aluminum, and stainless-steel valves; fluid control solutions; and gas train assembles to OEMs in the industrial, construction, HVAC, plumbing, and refrigeration markets. The Climate segment offers valves, protection devices, and brass fittings for various OEMs in the commercial HVAC and refrigeration markets; high-pressure components and accessories for the air-conditioning and refrigeration markets; coaxial heat exchangers and twisted tubes for the HVAC, geothermal, refrigeration, swimming pool heat pump, marine, ice machine, commercial boiler, and heat reclamation markets; and insulated HVAC flexible duct systems. Mueller Industries, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee.

About Enerpac Tool Group

Enerpac Tool Group Corp. manufactures and sells a range of industrial products and solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, France, and internationally. It operates through Industrial Tools & Services and Other segments. The Industrial Tools & Services segment designs, manufactures, and distributes branded hydraulic and mechanical tools; and provides services and tool rentals to the infrastructure, industrial maintenance, repair and operations, oil and gas, mining, alternative and renewable energy, civil construction, and other markets. It also offers branded tools and engineered heavy lifting technology solutions, and hydraulic torque wrenches; maintenance and manpower services; high-force hydraulic and mechanical tools, including cylinders, pumps, valves, and specialty tools; and bolt tensioners and other miscellaneous products. This segment markets its branded tools and services primarily under the Enerpac, Hydratight, Larzep, and Simplex brands. The Other segment designs and manufactures synthetic ropes and biomedical textiles. The company was formerly known as Actuant Corporation and changed its name to Enerpac Tool Group Corp. in January 2020. Enerpac Tool Group Corp. was incorporated in 1910 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.