CGNX vs. MKSI, COHR, ST, BMI, ITRI, OSIS, MLAB, DAKT, VPG, and FARO
Should you be buying Cognex stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Cognex include MKS Instruments (MKSI), Coherent (COHR), Sensata Technologies (ST), Badger Meter (BMI), Itron (ITRI), OSI Systems (OSIS), Mesa Laboratories (MLAB), Daktronics (DAKT), Vishay Precision Group (VPG), and FARO Technologies (FARO).
MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) and Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.
MKS Instruments pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. MKS Instruments pays out -3.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cognex pays out 51.7% 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. Cognex has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years. MKS Instruments is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
In the previous week, MKS Instruments had 2 more articles in the media than Cognex. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for MKS Instruments and 9 mentions for Cognex. MKS Instruments' average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Cognex's score of 0.97 indicating that Cognex is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
99.8% of MKS Instruments shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Cognex shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of MKS Instruments shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Cognex shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Cognex has a net margin of 11.76% compared to Cognex's net margin of -48.24%. Cognex's return on equity of 13.90% beat MKS Instruments' return on equity.
Cognex has lower revenue, but higher earnings than MKS Instruments. MKS Instruments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cognex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
MKS Instruments presently has a consensus target price of $141.25, indicating a potential upside of 11.58%. Cognex has a consensus target price of $49.15, indicating a potential upside of 7.98%. Given Cognex's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MKS Instruments is more favorable than Cognex.
MKS Instruments received 21 more outperform votes than Cognex when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.77% of users gave MKS Instruments an outperform vote while only 60.57% of users gave Cognex an outperform vote.
MKS Instruments has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cognex has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
MKS Instruments and Cognex tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CGNX and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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