Head-To-Head Survey: NORMA Group (OTCMKTS:NOEJF) and Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX)

NORMA Group (OTCMKTS:NOEJF) and Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares NORMA Group and Northwest Pipe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NORMA Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northwest Pipe	5.35%	7.42%	4.07%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

62.2% of NORMA Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Northwest Pipe shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Northwest Pipe shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NORMA Group and Northwest Pipe’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NORMA Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.74	7.65
Northwest Pipe	$457.67 million	0.58	$31.15 million	$2.34	11.37

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for NORMA Group and Northwest Pipe, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NORMA Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
Northwest Pipe	0	0	1	0	3.00

Northwest Pipe has a consensus price target of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 106.69%. Given Northwest Pipe’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Northwest Pipe is more favorable than NORMA Group.

Summary

Northwest Pipe beats NORMA Group on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NORMA Group

NORMA Group SE, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered joining technology solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides quick connectors, hose clamps, retaining clamps, and pipe couplings. The company sells its products to distributors, original equipment manufacturer aftermarket customers, technical wholesalers, and hardware stores under the ABA, Breeze, Clamp-All, CONNECTORS, FISH, Gemi, Kimplas, NDS, NORMA, Raindrip, R.G.RAY, Serflex, TORCA, and TRUSTLENE brand names through its distribution network, sales representatives, retailers, and importers. The company also provides water management, emobility thermal management, and commercial and passenger vehicles solutions. NORMA Group SE was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Maintal, Germany.

About Northwest Pipe

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure engineered steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications. In addition, this segment makes products for industrial plant piping systems and certain structural applications. The Precast segment provides precast and reinforced concrete products, including manholes, box culverts, vaults, catch basins, pump lift stations, oil water separators, biofiltration, steel casing pipes, and bar-wrapped concrete cylinder pipes, as well as pipeline system joints, fittings, specialized components, and other environmental and engineered solutions. The company sells its water infrastructure products under ParkUSA, Geneva Pipe and Precast, Permalok®, and Northwest Pipe Company brands primarily to installation contractors. Northwest Pipe Company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.