Comparing Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) & SoundThinking (NASDAQ:SSTI)

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) and SoundThinking (NASDAQ:SSTI) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Eastern and SoundThinking’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eastern	2.41%	5.46%	3.08%
SoundThinking	-14.95%	-20.76%	-11.26%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Eastern and SoundThinking, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eastern	0	2	0	0	2.00
SoundThinking	2	2	3	0	2.14

SoundThinking has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 110.84%. Given SoundThinking’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SoundThinking is more favorable than Eastern.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eastern and SoundThinking”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eastern	$248.97 million	0.51	$7.13 million	$0.96	21.90
SoundThinking	$104.13 million	0.83	-$9.42 million	($1.16)	-5.72

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.0% of Eastern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of SoundThinking shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.4% of Eastern shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of SoundThinking shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Eastern has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SoundThinking has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Eastern beats SoundThinking on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eastern

The Eastern Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered solutions to industrial markets in the United States and internationally. The company offers turnkey returnable packaging solutions, which are used in the assembly processes of vehicles, aircraft, and durable goods, as well as in production processes of plastic packaging products, packaged consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals; designs and manufactures blow mold tools and injection blow mold tooling products, and 2-step stretch blow molds and related components for the stretch blow molding industry; and supplies blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industries. It also provides rotary latches, compression latches, draw latches, hinges, camlocks, key switches, padlocks, and handles; and development and program management services for custom electromechanical and mechanical systems for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and customer applications. In addition, the company designs and manufactures proprietary vision technology for OEMs and aftermarket applications, as well as offers aftermarket components to the heavy- and medium-duty truck, motorhome, and bus markets. The Eastern Company was founded in 1858 and is based in Shelton, Connecticut.

About SoundThinking

SoundThinking, Inc., a public safety technology company that provides transformative solutions and strategic advisory services for law enforcement and civic leadership. Its SafetySmart Platform, an integrated suite of data-driven tools that enable law enforcement and community violence prevention and health organizations to be efficient in public safety outcomes. It offers ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection system; CrimeTracer, a law enforcement search engine; CaseBuilder, an investigation management system; and ResourceRouter, a software that directs patrol and community anti-violence resources to help maximize their impact. The company sells its solutions through its direct sales teams. The company was formerly known as ShotSpotter, Inc. and changed its name to SoundThinking, Inc. in April 2023. SoundThinking, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.