Financial Contrast: Acme United (ACU) and Its Peers

Acme United (NYSE:ACU) is one of 511 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Acme United to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Acme United and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acme United	$220.55 million	$17.79 million	25.81
Acme United Competitors	$1.90 billion	$136.31 million	5.78

Acme United’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Acme United. Acme United is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Acme United has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acme United’s competitors have a beta of 2.57, suggesting that their average share price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.1% of Acme United shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Acme United shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Acme United and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acme United	10.25%	9.70%	6.10%
Acme United Competitors	-304.20%	-315.07%	-22.11%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Acme United and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acme United	0	1	0	0	2.00
Acme United Competitors	4291	10577	18359	831	2.46

Acme United presently has a consensus price target of $70.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.28%. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies have a potential upside of 20.69%. Given Acme United’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acme United has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Acme United pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Acme United pays out 23.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare Equipment & Supplies” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 47.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Acme United has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Summary

Acme United competitors beat Acme United on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Acme United Company Profile

Acme United Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of first aid and medical products, cutting instruments, measuring tools and school and office supplies. The company serves the consumer, industrial, medical, school and office markets through a portfolio of branded and private-label products. Its product offerings include workplace first aid cabinets and kits, medical and emergency supplies, scissors, shears, knives, sharpeners, rulers and other measuring instruments. Acme United markets products under brands such as PhysiciansCare, First Aid Only, Pac-Kit, Westcott and Clauss.