Critical Comparison: Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) versus Autoscope Technologies (NASDAQ:AATC)

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and Autoscope Technologies (NASDAQ:AATC) are both technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Plexus and Autoscope Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plexus	4.03%	12.46%	5.57%
Autoscope Technologies	37.59%	27.06%	23.97%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Plexus and Autoscope Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plexus	0	1	6	0	2.86
Autoscope Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Plexus presently has a consensus target price of $273.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.27%. Given Plexus’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Plexus is more favorable than Autoscope Technologies.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Plexus and Autoscope Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plexus	$4.03 billion	1.83	$172.88 million	$6.78	40.78
Autoscope Technologies	$8.93 million	3.59	$6.62 million	$0.26	22.36

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

Risk & Volatility

Plexus has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Autoscope Technologies has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.5% of Plexus shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Plexus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Autoscope Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Plexus beats Autoscope Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin.

About Autoscope Technologies

Autoscope Technologies Corporation develops and markets video and radar processing products for use in intersection control, highway, bridge and tunnel traffic management, and traffic data collection applications in the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. It operates in two segments, Intersection and Highway. The company provides Autoscope video systems that process video input from a traffic scene in real time and extracts the traffic data, including vehicle presence, bicycle presence/differentiation, counts, speed, length, time occupancy, turning movements, and flow rate; and RTMS radar systems that use radar to measure vehicle presence, volume, occupancy, speed, and classification information for roadway monitoring applications. It also offers IntellitraffiQ software that provides traffic measurement and data collection across large and small areas. The company markets and sells its products to end users comprising federal, state, city, and county departments of transportation, port, highway, tunnel, and other transportation authorities, as well as system integrators or other suppliers of systems and services who are operating under subcontracts in connection with road construction contracts. Autoscope Technologies Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.