Comparing Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) & Spectris (OTCMKTS:SEPJF)

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) and Spectris (OTCMKTS:SEPJF) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Mesa Laboratories and Spectris’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mesa Laboratories	0.45%	7.41%	4.34%
Spectris	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Mesa Laboratories and Spectris, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesa Laboratories	0	0	1	0	3.00
Spectris	0	1	0	0	2.00

Mesa Laboratories presently has a consensus price target of $130.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.99%. Given Mesa Laboratories’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Mesa Laboratories is more favorable than Spectris.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.6% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of Spectris shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Mesa Laboratories 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 Mesa Laboratories and Spectris’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesa Laboratories	$219.08 million	2.71	$930,000.00	$0.17	648.16
Spectris	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.17	33.23

Mesa Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Spectris. Spectris is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mesa Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Mesa Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Spectris pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mesa Laboratories pays out 376.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Spectris pays out 23.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Spectris is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Mesa Laboratories beats Spectris on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Clinical Genomics, Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Biopharmaceutical Development, and Calibration Solutions. The Clinical Genomics segment develops, manufactures, and sells genetic analysis tools that include MassARRAY system and consumables, including chips, panels, and chemical reagent solutions used by clinical labs to perform genomic clinical testing in various therapeutic areas, such as screenings for hereditary diseases, pharmacogenetics, and oncology related applications. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment manufactures and sells biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators that are used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization and disinfection processes in the hospital, dental, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. This segment also provides testing and laboratory services primarily to the dental industry. The Biopharmaceutical Development segment develops, manufactures, and sells automated systems for protein analysis and peptide synthesis solutions. This segment's solutions include protein analysis comprising analysis equipment, CDs, kits, and buffers; and peptide synthesizers that enable customers to automate chemical synthesis of peptides that are used in the creation of peptide therapies, biomaterials, cosmetics, and general research. The Calibration Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and markets quality control products to measure or calibrate temperature, pressure, pH, and humidity for health and safety purposes in the hospital, medical device manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and various laboratory environments. This segment's products include continuous monitoring systems, dialysate meters and consumables, data loggers, gas flow calibration and air sampling equipment, and torque testing systems. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.

About Spectris

Spectris plc provides precision measurement solutions worldwide. It operates through Spectris Scientific, Spectris Dynamics, and Other segments. The Spectris Scientific segment provides advanced sensors and instruments used to measure, analyze, and characterize materials; and monitor ultra-clean manufacturing environments. Spectris Dynamics segment offers differentiated sensing, data acquisition, analysis modelling, and simulation solutions for product development and enhance product performance. The Other segment operates high-value precision in-line sensing and monitoring businesses. It serves life sciences/pharmaceuticals, technology-led industrials, automotive, electronics and semiconductor, academic research, and other markets, as well as metals, minerals, and mining. The company was formerly known as Fairey Group plc and changed its name to Spectris plc in May 2001. Spectris plc was incorporated in 1986 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.