Mesa Laboratories (MLAB) Competitors

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) and Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in DAKT or MLAB?

61.7% of Daktronics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.6% of Mesa Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Daktronics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of Mesa Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics received 13 more outperform votes than Mesa Laboratories when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.13% of users gave Daktronics an outperform vote while only 63.90% of users gave Mesa Laboratories an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Daktronics	Outperform Votes 236 64.13%	Underperform Votes 132 35.87%
Mesa Laboratories	Outperform Votes 223 63.90%	Underperform Votes 126 36.10%

Which has more risk and volatility, DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Laboratories has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer DAKT or MLAB?

In the previous week, Daktronics had 2 more articles in the media than Mesa Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Daktronics and 4 mentions for Mesa Laboratories. Mesa Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Daktronics' score of 0.41 indicating that Mesa Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Daktronics	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Mesa Laboratories	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics presently has a consensus target price of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 103.59%. Mesa Laboratories has a consensus target price of $140.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.99%. Given Daktronics' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Daktronics is more favorable than Mesa Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daktronics	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Mesa Laboratories	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is DAKT or MLAB a better dividend stock?

Daktronics pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Mesa Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Daktronics pays out -100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mesa Laboratories pays out -1.4% 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. Daktronics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is DAKT or MLAB more profitable?

Daktronics has a net margin of 3.62% compared to Mesa Laboratories' net margin of -104.92%. Mesa Laboratories' return on equity of 30.23% beat Daktronics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daktronics	3.62%	19.61%	8.96%
Mesa Laboratories	-104.92%	30.23%	10.43%

Which has better valuation and earnings, DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics has higher revenue and earnings than Mesa Laboratories. Daktronics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mesa Laboratories, 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
Daktronics	$799.81M	0.80	$34.62M	-$0.20	-63.86
Mesa Laboratories	$237.75M	2.81	-$254.25M	-$46.26	-2.65

Summary

Daktronics beats Mesa Laboratories on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.