INNOVATE (VATE) Competitors

Smith-Midland (NASDAQ:SMID) and INNOVATE (NYSE:VATE) are both small-cap construction materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends and media sentiment.

Which has more volatility & risk, SMID or VATE?

Smith-Midland has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, INNOVATE has a beta of 1.81, indicating that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SMID or VATE more profitable?

Smith-Midland has a net margin of 13.24% compared to INNOVATE's net margin of -7.63%. Smith-Midland's return on equity of 27.32% beat INNOVATE's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smith-Midland	13.24%	27.32%	16.59%
INNOVATE	-7.63%	N/A	-8.56%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SMID or VATE?

49.9% of Smith-Midland shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.3% of INNOVATE shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Smith-Midland shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 55.5% of INNOVATE shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to SMID or VATE?

In the previous week, Smith-Midland had 2 more articles in the media than INNOVATE. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Smith-Midland and 5 mentions for INNOVATE. INNOVATE's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Smith-Midland's score of 0.39 indicating that INNOVATE is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Smith-Midland	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
INNOVATE	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, SMID or VATE?

Smith-Midland has higher earnings, but lower revenue than INNOVATE. INNOVATE is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smith-Midland, 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
Smith-Midland	$91.00M	2.31	$7.68M	$2.27	17.44
INNOVATE	$995M	0.06	-$34.60M	-$6.03	-0.78

Summary

Smith-Midland beats INNOVATE on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.