Analyzing Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) & Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI)

Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) and Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Murata Manufacturing and Badger Meter”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Murata Manufacturing	$12.16 billion	7.46	$1.54 billion	$0.47	52.77
Badger Meter	$916.66 million	4.21	$141.63 million	$4.28	31.07

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murata Manufacturing	13.86%	9.84%	8.39%
Badger Meter	14.27%	18.03%	12.82%

Dividends

Murata Manufacturing pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Badger Meter pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Murata Manufacturing pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Badger Meter pays out 41.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Badger Meter has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Badger Meter is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.8% of Murata Manufacturing shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Murata Manufacturing and Badger Meter, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Badger Meter has a consensus price target of $162.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.84%. Given Badger Meter’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Badger Meter is more favorable than Murata Manufacturing.

Volatility and Risk

Murata Manufacturing has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Badger Meter has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Badger Meter beats Murata Manufacturing on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Murata Manufacturing

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. designs, manufactures, and sells ceramic-based passive electronic components and solutions in Japan and internationally. The company offers capacitors, inductors, noise suppression products/EMI suppression filters/ESD protection devices, resistors, thermistors, sensors, timing devices, quartz devices, sound components, power products, batteries, micro mechatronics, RFID product, baluns, couplers, filters, phase shifters, RF switches, front-end modules, SAW components, connectors, antennas, connectivity modules, wireless connectivity platforms, ionizers/active oxygen modules, and transformers. It also offers Femtet, a CAE software that solves various engineering challenges; and provides silver oxide battery. In addition, the company provides connectivity, Wifi sensing, IOT, AI, and RFID solutions. Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. offers its products for use in communications equipment, mobility, enterprise system, industrial, healthcare, medical, personal electronics applications, and other sectors. The company was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Nagaokakyo, Japan.

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.