Reviewing LiqTech International (LIQT) & Its Competitors

LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT) is one of 437 public companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare LiqTech International to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.1% of LiqTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.6% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of LiqTech International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.8% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares LiqTech International and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiqTech International	$16.51 million	-$8.60 million	-0.76
LiqTech International Competitors	$4.44 billion	$345.61 million	-1.94

LiqTech International’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than LiqTech International. LiqTech International is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for LiqTech International and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiqTech International	2	0	1	0	1.67
LiqTech International Competitors	4036	14387	17766	758	2.41

LiqTech International currently has a consensus target price of $4.40, suggesting a potential upside of 530.91%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 34.96%. Given LiqTech International’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LiqTech International is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares LiqTech International and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiqTech International	-55.45%	-79.64%	-31.11%
LiqTech International Competitors	-1,938.34%	-13.37%	0.73%

Volatility and Risk

LiqTech International has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LiqTech International’s rivals have a beta of 4.43, suggesting that their average share price is 343% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

LiqTech International rivals beat LiqTech International on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About LiqTech International

LiqTech International, Inc., a clean technology company, designs, develops, produces, markets, and sells automated filtering systems, ceramic silicon carbide liquid applications, and diesel particulate air filters in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. The company operates through Water, Ceramics, and Plastics segments. It also manufactures and sells silicon carbide ceramic filtration technologies for liquid and gas purification; and diesel particulate filters for exhaust emission control solutions to the verified retrofit and the original equipment manufacturer market. In addition, the company develops, manufactures, and sells liquid filtration systems, which are used for the marine scrubber systems, filtration of produced water, industrial applications, pool and spa water, food and beverage application, and silicon carbide membrane technology. Further, it provides flexible and plastics manufacturing products for machining, welding, bending, and solvent cementing. LiqTech International, Inc. sells its products primarily to industrial customers through direct sales, systems integrators, distributors, agents, and partners. The company was formerly known as Blue Moose Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiqTech International, Inc. in October 2011. LiqTech International, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark.