Critical Comparison: Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) versus Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Plexus has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Badger Meter has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Plexus and Badger Meter’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plexus	4.03%	12.46%	5.57%
Badger Meter	14.27%	18.03%	12.82%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.5% of Plexus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Plexus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Plexus and Badger Meter”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plexus	$4.03 billion	1.64	$172.88 million	$6.78	36.39
Badger Meter	$916.66 million	4.21	$141.63 million	$4.28	31.07

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Plexus and Badger Meter, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plexus	0	1	5	1	3.00
Badger Meter	1	5	6	0	2.42

Plexus presently has a consensus target price of $273.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.65%. Badger Meter has a consensus target price of $162.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.84%. Given Badger Meter’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Badger Meter is more favorable than Plexus.

Summary

Plexus beats Badger Meter on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc. manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives. In addition, the company offers ORION Cellular endpoints to power network as a service; ORION mobile read endpoints support for deploying AMR solution; radio products; hardware, instruments, and sensors, and related software, to enhance connected data to a water utility's operation; water quality monitoring solutions, including optical sensing and electrochemical instruments; and high frequency pressure and leak detection sensors to aid in burst pipe and leak events; as well as BEACON, a secure cloud-hosted software suite that establishes alerts for specific conditions and allows consumer engagement tools that permit end water customers to view and manage their water usage activity. Its flow instrumentation products are used in water/wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and corporate sustainability markets. The company serves water utilities, commercial, and industrial industries; and provides training, project management, technical support, and other collaborative services for customers. It sells its products and software directly, as well as through resellers and representatives. The company was incorporated in 1905 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.