Financial Review: Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP) vs. CECO Environmental (NASDAQ:CECO)

Ampco-Pittsburgh (NYSE:AP) and CECO Environmental (NASDAQ:CECO) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.2% of Ampco-Pittsburgh shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.1% of CECO Environmental shares are held by institutional investors. 23.5% of Ampco-Pittsburgh shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of CECO Environmental shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ampco-Pittsburgh and CECO Environmental”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ampco-Pittsburgh	$434.17 million	0.44	-$66.07 million	($2.93)	-3.15
CECO Environmental	$774.38 million	4.98	$50.05 million	($0.69)	-95.39

CECO Environmental has higher revenue and earnings than Ampco-Pittsburgh. CECO Environmental is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ampco-Pittsburgh, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Ampco-Pittsburgh has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CECO Environmental has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Ampco-Pittsburgh and CECO Environmental, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ampco-Pittsburgh	1	0	0	0	1.00
CECO Environmental	1	1	8	0	2.70

CECO Environmental has a consensus target price of $104.88, suggesting a potential upside of 59.34%. Given CECO Environmental’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CECO Environmental is more favorable than Ampco-Pittsburgh.

Profitability

This table compares Ampco-Pittsburgh and CECO Environmental’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ampco-Pittsburgh	-13.84%	-3.53%	-0.38%
CECO Environmental	-3.39%	7.36%	3.41%

Summary

CECO Environmental beats Ampco-Pittsburgh on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ampco-Pittsburgh

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacture and sale of specialty metal products and customized equipment to commercial and industrial users worldwide. The company operates through Forged and Cast Engineered Products (FCEP); and Air and Liquid Processing (ALP) segments. The FCEP segment produces forged hardened steel rolls, cast rolls and, forged engineered products that are used in cold rolling mills by producers of steel, aluminum, and other metals; cast rolls for hot strip mills, medium/heavy section mills, roughing mills, and plate mills; and forged engineered products for narrow and wide strip and aluminum mills, back-up rolls for narrow strip mills, and leveling rolls and shafts. The ALP segment produces custom-engineered finned tube heat exchange coils and related heat transfer products for various industries, including OEM/commercial, nuclear power generation, and industrial manufacturing; custom-designed air handling systems for institutional, pharmaceutical, and general industrial building markets; and manufacture centrifugal pumps for the fossil fueled power generation, marine defense, and industrial refrigeration industries. Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation was incorporated in 1929 and is headquartered in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

About CECO Environmental

CECO Environmental Corp. provides critical solutions in industrial air quality, industrial water treatment, and energy transition solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments: Engineered Systems and Industrial Process Solutions. The company engineers, designs, manufactures, and installs non-metallic expansion joints and flow control products, including rubber expansion joints, ducting expansion joints, and industrial pinch and duck bill valves; membrane-based industrial water and wastewater treatment systems; and provides dust and fume extraction solutions comprising consultation, design, manufacturing, installation, and service, as well as water and wastewater treatment solutions. It offers engineered and configured products and solutions, including dampers and diverters, expansion joints, selective catalytic reduction systems, severe-service and industrial cyclones, dust collectors, thermal oxidizers, filtration systems, wet and dry scrubbers, separators and coalescers, water treatment packages, metallic and non-metallic pumps, industrial silencers, and fluid handling equipment, as well as plant engineering services and engineered design build fabrication services. In addition, the company offers industrial engineered noise control solutions, including custom acoustical gen-set packages, ambient air baffles, acoustical louvres, and skid enclosures; process filtration solutions for hydrocarbon and chemical processing; and energy and water conservation systems and equipment. The company markets its products and services to natural gas processors, transmission and distribution companies, refineries, power generators, industrial manufacturing, engineering and construction companies, semiconductor manufacturers, compressor manufacturers, beverage can manufacturers, metals and minerals, and electric vehicle producers. CECO Environmental Corp. was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.