Financial Comparison: Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) vs. ClearSign Technologies (NASDAQ:CLIR)

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) and ClearSign Technologies (NASDAQ:CLIR) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Illinois Tool Works and ClearSign Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Illinois Tool Works	5	6	2	0	1.77
ClearSign Technologies	1	0	1	0	2.00

Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus target price of $281.25, suggesting a potential upside of 4.17%. ClearSign Technologies has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 411.51%. Given ClearSign Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ClearSign Technologies is more favorable than Illinois Tool Works.

Volatility and Risk

Illinois Tool Works has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ClearSign Technologies has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Illinois Tool Works and ClearSign Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Illinois Tool Works	$16.04 billion	4.79	$3.07 billion	$11.03	24.48
ClearSign Technologies	$5.23 million	5.09	-$5.50 million	($0.91)	-4.30

Illinois Tool Works has higher revenue and earnings than ClearSign Technologies. ClearSign Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Illinois Tool Works, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.8% of Illinois Tool Works shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of ClearSign Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Illinois Tool Works shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of ClearSign Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Illinois Tool Works and ClearSign Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Illinois Tool Works	19.39%	101.72%	19.64%
ClearSign Technologies	-96.07%	-58.08%	-44.61%

Summary

Illinois Tool Works beats ClearSign Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Illinois Tool Works

Illinois Tool Works Inc. manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses. The Food Equipment segment provides warewashing, refrigeration, cooking, and food processing equipment; kitchen exhaust, ventilation, and pollution control systems; and food equipment maintenance and repair services. The Test & Measurement and Electronics segment produces and sells equipment, consumables, and related software for testing and measuring of materials and structures, as well as equipment and consumables used in the production of electronic subassemblies and microelectronics. The Welding segment produces arc welding equipment; and metal arc welding consumables and related accessories. The Polymers & Fluids segment produces adhesives, sealants, lubrication and cutting fluids, and fluids and polymers for auto aftermarket maintenance and appearance. The Construction Products segment offers engineered fastening systems and solutions for the residential construction, renovation/remodel, and commercial construction markets. The Specialty Products segment provides beverage packaging equipment and consumables, product coding and marking equipment and consumables, and appliance components and fasteners. It serves the automotive OEM and tiers, MRO, commercial food equipment, construction, general industrial, industrial capital goods, consumer durables, automotive aftermarket end, and other markets. The company distributes its products directly to industrial manufacturers, as well as through independent distributors. Illinois Tool Works Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in Glenview, Illinois.

About ClearSign Technologies

ClearSign Technologies Corporation designs and develops products and technologies to enhance emission and operational performance, energy efficiency, emission reduction, safety, and overall cost-effectiveness of industrial and commercial systems in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Hong Kong. The company's technologies include ClearSign core burner technology consists of an industrial burner body and a downstream porous ceramic or metal flame stabilizing structure; ClearSign core process burner technology that provides a direct burner replacement for traditional refinery process heaters; ClearSign core boiler burner technology; ClearSign core flaring burners that can be used individually, or in combination, to provide a flare product with extremely low nitrogen oxide emissions; and ClearSign eye flame sensor, an electrical flame sensor for industrial applications. It serves energy, institutional, commercial and industrial boiler, chemical, and petrochemical industries. The company was formerly known as ClearSign Combustion Corporation and changed its name ClearSign Technologies Corporation in November 2019. ClearSign Technologies Corporation was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.