Smiths Group (SMIN) Competitors

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) and The Weir Group (LON:WEIR) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Which has better earnings & valuation, SMIN or WEIR?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smiths Group	£3.07B	2.56	£245.01M	£71.98	32.07
The Weir Group	£2.54B	2.53	£218.85M	£85.10	29.40

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SMIN or WEIR?

72.2% of Smiths Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of The Weir Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Smiths Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of The Weir Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate SMIN or WEIR?

Smiths Group presently has a consensus target price of GBX 1,850, suggesting a potential downside of 19.84%. The Weir Group has a consensus target price of GBX 2,642, suggesting a potential upside of 5.60%. Given The Weir Group's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe The Weir Group is more favorable than Smiths Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smiths Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
The Weir Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Which has more risk & volatility, SMIN or WEIR?

Smiths Group has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Weir Group has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SMIN or WEIR a better dividend stock?

Smiths Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. The Weir Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 39 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Smiths Group pays out 61.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Weir Group pays out 45.8% 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.

Does the media favor SMIN or WEIR?

In the previous week, Smiths Group had 7 more articles in the media than The Weir Group. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Smiths Group and 6 mentions for The Weir Group. Smiths Group's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat The Weir Group's score of 0.49 indicating that Smiths Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Smiths Group	7 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Weir Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is SMIN or WEIR more profitable?

The Weir Group has a net margin of 8.60% compared to Smiths Group's net margin of 7.98%. The Weir Group's return on equity of 12.79% beat Smiths Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smiths Group	7.98%	11.54%	6.47%
The Weir Group	8.60%	12.79%	5.84%

Summary

Smiths Group beats The Weir Group on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.