Reviewing ATS (ATS) & Its Competitors

ATS (NYSE:ATS) is one of 21 public companies in the “General industrial machinery,” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare ATS to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.1% of ATS shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.6% of shares of all “General industrial machinery,” companies are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of shares of all “General industrial machinery,” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for ATS and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ATS	0	0	1	0	3.00
ATS Competitors	88	209	307	7	2.38

ATS currently has a consensus target price of $65.00, suggesting a potential upside of 66.67%. As a group, “General industrial machinery,” companies have a potential upside of 19.99%. Given ATS’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe ATS is more favorable than its peers.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ATS and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ATS	$2.72 billion	$96.40 million	31.71
ATS Competitors	$932.61 million	$14.26 million	-0.70

ATS has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. ATS 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ATS	5.48%	18.09%	6.66%
ATS Competitors	-213.93%	-107.51%	-33.73%

Summary

ATS beats its peers on 10 of the 12 factors compared.

About ATS

ATS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides automation solutions worldwide. The company is also involved in planning, designing, building, commissioning, and servicing automated manufacturing and assembly systems, including automation products and test solutions. In addition, it offers pre-automation services comprising discovery and analysis, concept development, simulation, and total cost of ownership modelling; post automation services, including training, process optimization, preventative maintenance, emergency and on-call support, spare parts, retooling, retrofits, and equipment relocation; and contract manufacturing services, as well as after sales and services. Further, the company provides engineering design, prototyping, process verification, specification writing, software and manufacturing process controls development, standard automation products/platforms, equipment design and build, third-party equipment qualification, procurement and integration, automation system installation, product line commissioning, validation, and documentation services. Additionally, it offers value engineering, supply chain management, and integration and manufacturing capabilities, as well as other automation products and solutions; and software and digital solutions comprising connected factory floor management systems to capture, analyze, and use real time machine performance data to troubleshoot, deliver process and product solutions, prevent equipment downtime, drive operational efficiency, and unlock performance for sustainable production improvements. ATS Corporation serves life sciences, transportation and mobility, consumer products, food and beverage, electronics, nuclear, packaging, warehousing and distribution, and energy markets. The company was formerly known as ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. and changed its name to ATS Corporation in November 2022. ATS Corporation was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Canada.