Vision Marine Technologies (NASDAQ:VMAR) & Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) Critical Review

Vision Marine Technologies (NASDAQ:VMAR) and Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vision Marine Technologies and Latham Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vision Marine Technologies	$13.83 million	N/A	-$21.65 million	($396.30)	-0.02
Latham Group	$545.91 million	1.53	$11.12 million	$0.05	141.60

Latham Group has higher revenue and earnings than Vision Marine Technologies. Vision Marine Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Latham Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Vision Marine Technologies has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Latham Group has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Vision Marine Technologies and Latham Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vision Marine Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00
Latham Group	3	2	2	0	1.86

Latham Group has a consensus price target of $7.83, indicating a potential upside of 10.64%. Given Latham Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Latham Group is more favorable than Vision Marine Technologies.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

53.8% of Vision Marine Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Latham Group shares are held by institutional investors. 40.4% of Vision Marine Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Latham Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vision Marine Technologies and Latham Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vision Marine Technologies	-39.82%	-350.19%	-42.33%
Latham Group	0.92%	1.31%	0.63%

Summary

Latham Group beats Vision Marine Technologies on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vision Marine Technologies

Vision Marine Technologies Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and rents electric boats in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It offers e-motion electric powertrain technology; e-motion electric outboard powertrain system; electric boats; maintenance, repair, and customer support services; as well as manufactures customized boats. The company also provides its products through website and distributors. It serves original equipment manufacturers, retail customer, boat clubs, and boat rental operations. The company was formerly known as Riopel Marine Inc. and changed its name to Vision Marine Technologies Inc. in April 2020. Vision Marine Technologies Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Boisbriand, Canada.

About Latham Group

Latham Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names. The company was formerly known as Latham Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Latham Group, Inc. in March 2021. Latham Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.