Forward Industries (FWDI) and Its Competitors Critical Review

Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) is one of 348 publicly-traded companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Forward Industries to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

42.5% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 15.9% of Forward Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Forward Industries and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Forward Industries	-2,073.82%	-18.05%	-17.03%
Forward Industries Competitors	-406.78%	-18.57%	-6.54%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Forward Industries and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Forward Industries	$18.19 million	-$166.97 million	-2.08
Forward Industries Competitors	$6.29 billion	$1.05 billion	9.95

Forward Industries’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Forward Industries. Forward Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Forward Industries and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Forward Industries	1	1	2	0	2.25
Forward Industries Competitors	1887	6730	11345	407	2.50

Forward Industries presently has a consensus target price of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 76.06%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential upside of 4.33%. Given Forward Industries’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Forward Industries is more favorable than its peers.

Risk and Volatility

Forward Industries has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forward Industries’ peers have a beta of 2.27, suggesting that their average stock price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Forward Industries peers beat Forward Industries on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

Forward Industries Company Profile

Forward Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and distributes carry and protective solutions primarily for handheld electronic devices. The company operates in three segments: OEM Distribution, Retail Distribution, and Design. The OEM Distribution segment sources and distributes carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits; and various portable electronic and non-electronic products, such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, GPS devices, tablets, and firearms. The Retail Distribution segment sources and sells smart-enabled furniture and a range of other products through agreements with various retailers, including in stores and online retailer websites. The Design segment provides hardware and software product design and engineering services. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Forward Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.