Comparing IDEX (NYSE:IEX) and THK (OTCMKTS:THKLY)

THK (OTCMKTS:THKLY) and IDEX (NYSE:IEX) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for THK and IDEX, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
THK	0	1	0	0	2.00
IDEX	0	2	9	0	2.82

IDEX has a consensus price target of $260.27, indicating a potential upside of 13.27%. Given IDEX’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe IDEX is more favorable than THK.

Volatility & Risk

THK has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDEX has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

THK pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. IDEX pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. THK pays out 123.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. IDEX pays out 42.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. IDEX has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares THK and IDEX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
THK	N/A	N/A	N/A
IDEX	14.49%	15.69%	9.10%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.0% of IDEX shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of IDEX shares are held by 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares THK and IDEX”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
THK	$1.61 billion	3.11	-$468.27 million	$0.30	70.04
IDEX	$3.46 billion	4.90	$483.20 million	$6.95	33.06

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

Summary

IDEX beats THK on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About THK

THK Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of mechanical components worldwide. The company provides linear motion (LM) guides, ball screws, ball splines, LM guide actuators, cross roller rings/ double row angular contact ring, electric actuators, linear motor actuators, cam followers, roller followers, linear bushes, LM strokes, slide packs, slide rails, cross roller guides and tables, linear ball slides, LM and flat rollers, spline nuts, screw nuts, change nuts, precision linear packs, link balls, rod ends, spherical plain bearings, lubrication accessories, and seismic isolation products. Its products are used in various applications, including machine tools, general industrial machinery, precision instruments, semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment, industrial robots, electronic devices, and transport systems, as well as in construction, aerospace, medical and assistive, and other manufacturing industries. The company was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About IDEX

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries. The HST segment designs, produces, and distributes precision fluidics positive displacement pumps, powder and liquid processing technologies, drying systems, micro-precision components, pneumatic components and sealing solutions, high performance molded and extruded sealing components, custom mechanical and shaft seals, engineered hygienic mixers and valves, biocompatible medical devices and implantables, air compressors and blowers, optical components and coatings, laboratory and commercial equipment, and precision photonic solutions. This segment serves food and beverage, life sciences, analytical instruments, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, industrial, semiconductor, automotive/transportation, medical/dental, energy, cosmetics, marine, chemical, wastewater and water treatment, research and aerospace/defense markets. The FSDP segment designs, produces, and distributes firefighting pumps, valves and controls, rescue tools, lifting bags, and other components and systems for the fire and rescue industry; engineered stainless steel banding and clamping devices for various industrial and commercial applications; and precision equipment for dispensing, metering, and mixing colorants and paints used in retail and commercial businesses. IDEX Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.