Head-To-Head Survey: Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) & Vontier (NYSE:VNT)

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) and Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vontier and Plexus”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vontier	$3.08 billion	1.39	$406.10 million	$2.41	13.07
Plexus	$4.03 billion	1.73	$172.88 million	$6.78	38.49

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Vontier and Plexus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vontier	1	3	4	0	2.38
Plexus	0	1	6	1	3.00

Vontier currently has a consensus target price of $41.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.13%. Plexus has a consensus target price of $276.86, indicating a potential upside of 6.10%. Given Vontier’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Vontier is more favorable than Plexus.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.8% of Vontier shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Plexus shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Vontier shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Plexus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Vontier and Plexus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vontier	11.34%	38.57%	11.30%
Plexus	4.03%	12.46%	5.57%

Risk & Volatility

Vontier has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plexus has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Plexus beats Vontier on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vontier

Vontier Corporation provides mobility ecosystem solutions worldwide. The company operates through Mobility Technologies, Repair Solutions, and Environmental and Fueling Solutions segments. The Mobility Technologies segment provides digitally equipment solutions for mobility ecosystem, such as point-of-sale and payment systems, workflow automation, telematics, data analytics, software platform, and integrated solutions for alternative fuel dispensing. The Repair Solutions segment manufactures and distributes vehicle repair tools, toolboxes, automotive diagnostic equipment and software through mobile franchise network. The Environmental and Fueling Solutions segment offers environmental, fueling hardware, software, and aftermarket solutions for fueling infrastructures. It also offers a range of solutions, including environmental sensors; fueling equipment; field payment hardware; point-of sale, workflow, and monitoring software; vehicle tracking and fleet management; software solutions for EV charging; and vehicle mechanics, and technicians equipment. The company markets its products and services to retail and commercial fueling, convenience store, and car wash operators; commercial vehicle repair businesses, fleet owners/operators and electric vehicle charging network operators, as well as direct sales personnel and independent distributors. It serves customers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. Vontier Corporation was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin.