Proto Labs (PRLB) Competitors

Enpro (NYSE:NPO) and Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in NPO or PRLB?

98.3% of Enpro shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Proto Labs shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Enpro shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Proto Labs shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NPO or PRLB?

Enpro received 28 more outperform votes than Proto Labs when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.60% of users gave Enpro an outperform vote while only 63.00% of users gave Proto Labs an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Enpro	Outperform Votes 360 63.60%	Underperform Votes 206 36.40%
Proto Labs	Outperform Votes 332 63.00%	Underperform Votes 195 37.00%

Does the media refer more to NPO or PRLB?

In the previous week, Enpro had 6 more articles in the media than Proto Labs. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Enpro and 6 mentions for Proto Labs. Enpro's average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat Proto Labs' score of 0.82 indicating that Enpro is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Enpro	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Proto Labs	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend NPO or PRLB?

Enpro presently has a consensus price target of $202.50, suggesting a potential upside of 37.25%. Proto Labs has a consensus price target of $43.67, suggesting a potential upside of 25.88%. Given Enpro's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Enpro is more favorable than Proto Labs.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enpro	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Proto Labs	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more risk & volatility, NPO or PRLB?

Enpro has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Proto Labs has a beta of 1.52, indicating that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NPO or PRLB more profitable?

Enpro has a net margin of 6.95% compared to Proto Labs' net margin of 3.31%. Enpro's return on equity of 10.25% beat Proto Labs' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enpro	6.95%	10.25%	5.83%
Proto Labs	3.31%	2.44%	2.19%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, NPO or PRLB?

Enpro has higher revenue and earnings than Proto Labs. Enpro is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Proto Labs, 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
Enpro	$1.05B	2.96	$22.20M	$3.46	42.64
Proto Labs	$500.89M	1.65	$16.59M	$0.65	53.37

Summary

Enpro beats Proto Labs on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.