Head to Head Analysis: Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) & Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT)

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Trimble and Applied Industrial Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Trimble	0	2	10	0	2.83
Applied Industrial Technologies	0	1	5	0	2.83

Trimble currently has a consensus price target of $87.33, suggesting a potential upside of 73.21%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus price target of $313.67, suggesting a potential downside of 1.83%. Given Trimble’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than Applied Industrial Technologies.

Volatility and Risk

Trimble has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Trimble and Applied Industrial Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Trimble	$3.59 billion	3.28	$424.00 million	$1.90	26.54
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.56 billion	2.59	$392.99 million	$10.59	30.17

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

Profitability

This table compares Trimble and Applied Industrial Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Trimble	12.38%	11.61%	7.32%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.34%	21.64%	12.91%

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats Trimble on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment. It also operates fabricated rubber shops and service field crews that install, modify, and repair conveyor belts and rubber linings, as well as offer hose assemblies. In addition, the company provides technical support services; engages in the distribution of fluid power and industrial flow control products; advanced automation solutions, including machine vision, robotics, motion control, and smart technologies. It distributes industrial products through a network of service centers. The company serves various industries, including agriculture and food processing, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, fabricated metals, forest products, industrial machinery and equipment, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, primary metals, technology, transportation, and utilities, as well as government entities. The company was formerly known as Bearings, Inc. and changed its to name to Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. in 1997. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.