Dover (NYSE:DOV) & Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) Critical Survey

Dover (NYSE:DOV) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.5% of Dover shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Dover shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Trimble shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Dover has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trimble has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Dover and Trimble, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dover	0	5	8	0	2.62
Trimble	0	2	8	1	2.91

Dover presently has a consensus target price of $222.75, suggesting a potential upside of 7.40%. Trimble has a consensus target price of $96.78, suggesting a potential upside of 42.57%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than Dover.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dover and Trimble”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dover	$8.09 billion	3.52	$1.09 billion	$7.94	26.12
Trimble	$3.68 billion	4.38	$1.50 billion	$1.46	46.49

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

Profitability

This table compares Dover and Trimble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dover	13.52%	17.87%	10.06%
Trimble	9.93%	10.73%	6.65%

Summary

Trimble beats Dover on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dover

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market. This segment offers manual and power clamp, rotary and linear mechanical indexer, conveyor, pick and place unit, glove port, and manipulator, as well as end-of-arm robotic gripper, slide, and end effector; winches, hoists, bearings, drives, and electric monitoring system; and radio frequency and microwave filters and switches, and signal intelligence solutions. Its Clean Energy & Fueling segment offers component, equipment, and software and service solution enabling safe storage and transport of fuel, cryogenic gases, and hazardous fluids, as well as operation of retail fueling and vehicle wash establishment. The company's Imaging & Identification segment provides precision marking and coding, product traceability equipment, brand protection, and digital textile printing equipment and solution, as well as related consumable, software, and service to packaged and consumer goods, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, fashion and apparel, and other end-market. Its Pumps & Process Solutions segment manufactures specialty pump, connector, flow meter, fluid connecting solution, plastics and polymer processing equipment, and engineered components for rotating and reciprocating machines. The company's Climate & Sustainability Technologies segment manufactures refrigeration system, refrigeration display case, commercial glass refrigerator and freezer door, and brazed plate heat exchanger for industrial heating and cooling, and residential climate control applications. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.