Head to Head Comparison: IDEX (NYSE:IEX) and Hyster-Yale (NYSE:HY)

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) and Hyster-Yale (NYSE:HY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares IDEX and Hyster-Yale’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IDEX	14.65%	16.18%	9.42%
Hyster-Yale	-3.33%	-21.03%	-4.87%

Dividends

IDEX pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hyster-Yale pays an annual dividend of $1.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. IDEX pays out 40.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hyster-Yale pays out -22.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. IDEX has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Hyster-Yale has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Hyster-Yale is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for IDEX and Hyster-Yale, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IDEX	0	3	9	0	2.75
Hyster-Yale	1	1	2	0	2.25

IDEX presently has a consensus target price of $263.64, suggesting a potential upside of 11.14%. Hyster-Yale has a consensus target price of $47.50, suggesting a potential upside of 62.32%. Given Hyster-Yale’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hyster-Yale is more favorable than IDEX.

Risk & Volatility

IDEX has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hyster-Yale has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.0% of IDEX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.5% of Hyster-Yale shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of IDEX shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 37.8% of Hyster-Yale shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares IDEX and Hyster-Yale”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IDEX	$3.46 billion	5.04	$483.20 million	$7.20	32.95
Hyster-Yale	$3.77 billion	0.14	-$60.10 million	($6.56)	-4.46

IDEX has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hyster-Yale. Hyster-Yale is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IDEX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

IDEX beats Hyster-Yale on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IDEX

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries. The HST segment designs, produces, and distributes precision fluidics positive displacement pumps, powder and liquid processing technologies, drying systems, micro-precision components, pneumatic components and sealing solutions, high performance molded and extruded sealing components, custom mechanical and shaft seals, engineered hygienic mixers and valves, biocompatible medical devices and implantables, air compressors and blowers, optical components and coatings, laboratory and commercial equipment, and precision photonic solutions. This segment serves food and beverage, life sciences, analytical instruments, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, industrial, semiconductor, automotive/transportation, medical/dental, energy, cosmetics, marine, chemical, wastewater and water treatment, research and aerospace/defense markets. The FSDP segment designs, produces, and distributes firefighting pumps, valves and controls, rescue tools, lifting bags, and other components and systems for the fire and rescue industry; engineered stainless steel banding and clamping devices for various industrial and commercial applications; and precision equipment for dispensing, metering, and mixing colorants and paints used in retail and commercial businesses. IDEX Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.

About Hyster-Yale

Hyster-Yale, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, sells, and services a line of lift trucks, attachments, and aftermarket parts worldwide. The company manufactures components, such as frames, masts, and transmissions; and assembles lift trucks. It markets its products primarily under the Hyster and Yale brand names to independent Hyster and Yale retail dealerships. The company also sells aftermarket parts under the Hyster and Yale, as well as UNISOURCE and PREMIER brands to Hyster and Yale dealers for the service of competitor lift trucks. In addition, it produces and distributes attachments, forks, and lift tables under the Bolzoni, Auramo, and Meyer brand names; and designs and produces products in the port equipment and rough terrain forklift markets. Further, the company designs, manufactures, and sells hydrogen fuel-cell stacks and engines. It serves light and heavy manufacturers, trucking and automotive companies, rental companies, building materials and paper suppliers, lumber, metal products, warehouses, retailers, food distributors, container handling companies, and U.S. and non-U.S. governmental agencies. The company was formerly known as Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and changed its name to Hyster-Yale, Inc. in June 2024. Hyster-Yale, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.