Head to Head Comparison: Electro-Sensors (NASDAQ:ELSE) vs. Alps Electric (OTCMKTS:APELY)

Electro-Sensors (NASDAQ:ELSE) and Alps Electric (OTCMKTS:APELY) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

11.7% of Electro-Sensors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Alps Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Electro-Sensors shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Alps Electric shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Electro-Sensors has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alps Electric has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Electro-Sensors and Alps Electric”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electro-Sensors	$10.48 million	2.61	$310,000.00	$0.08	96.75
Alps Electric	$6.77 billion	0.43	$177.41 million	$1.74	15.98

Alps Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Electro-Sensors. Alps Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Electro-Sensors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Electro-Sensors and Alps Electric’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electro-Sensors	2.42%	1.73%	1.62%
Alps Electric	2.64%	7.24%	4.09%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Electro-Sensors and Alps Electric, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electro-Sensors	0	1	0	0	2.00
Alps Electric	0	1	0	0	2.00

Dividends

Electro-Sensors pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Alps Electric pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Electro-Sensors pays out 200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alps Electric pays out 27.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Alps Electric beats Electro-Sensors on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electro-Sensors

Electro-Sensors, Inc. engages in the manufacture and selling of industrial production monitoring and process control systems. Its products include shaft speed witches; wireless hazard monitoring; temperature sensor; slide gate and angle position; bearing sensors and belt alignment; and motor drive control. The company was founded by James P. Slattery in 1965 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, MN.

About Alps Electric

Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells electronic components in Japan and internationally. It operates through four segments: Components, Sensor Communication, Module Systems, and Logistics. The company’s products for the consumer, industrial equipment, and IoT markets include TACT switches, worker condition monitoring systems, HAPTIC reactor, actuator for cameras, remote monitoring system for logistics, analog meter monitoring system, resistive position sensor, pressure sensor, air environment sensor module, three-axis geomagnetic sensor, humidity sensor, and pc board mount current sensor. Its products for the automotive market comprises TACT and detector switches, Encoder, aspherical glass lens with metal holder, HAPTIC reactor, trimagic converter, current sensor, magnetic sensor, millimeter-wave sensor, GNSS module, 5G NR module, power window switch, electric shifter, sound system, cabin controller, smart door trim, electric shifter, integrated display, premium sound speakers, and customized car products. The company also provides systems development, office, and financing and leasing services, as well as transportation, storage, and forwarding services. The company was formerly known as Alps Electric Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. in January 2019. The company was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.