Contrasting Flex (FLEX) and Its Rivals

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) is one of 376 public companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Flex to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex	3.35%	24.93%	5.63%
Flex Competitors	-139.38%	-23.97%	-6.40%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.3% of Flex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Flex shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Flex and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex	$27.91 billion	$880.00 million	28.20
Flex Competitors	$4.06 billion	$173.71 million	3.47

Flex has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Flex is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Flex and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex	0	1	8	2	3.09
Flex Competitors	2048	7630	10467	668	2.47

Flex presently has a consensus price target of $138.88, indicating a potential upside of 77.77%. As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 33.08%. Given Flex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Flex is more favorable than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Flex has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flex’s peers have a beta of -0.30, meaning that their average stock price is 130% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Flex beats its peers on 12 of the 13 factors compared.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. is a global manufacturing and supply-chain services company that works with businesses to design, engineer, manufacture and support products. Its services include product development, sourcing, production, logistics and after-market support. The company serves a range of industries, including automotive, healthcare, industrial, lifestyle and communications, as well as cloud and data-center markets. Its work spans products and systems such as medical devices, vehicle components, industrial equipment and technology infrastructure.