Critical Comparison: Sany Heavy Equipment International (OTCMKTS:SNYYF) & Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB)

Sany Heavy Equipment International (OTCMKTS:SNYYF) and Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sany Heavy Equipment International and Proto Labs”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sany Heavy Equipment International	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.09	14.04
Proto Labs	$560.54 million	3.39	$21.24 million	$1.25	63.61

Proto Labs has higher revenue and earnings than Sany Heavy Equipment International. Sany Heavy Equipment International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Proto Labs, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Sany Heavy Equipment International and Proto Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sany Heavy Equipment International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Proto Labs	5.44%	4.80%	4.22%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.1% of Sany Heavy Equipment International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Proto Labs shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Proto Labs shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Sany Heavy Equipment International and Proto Labs, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sany Heavy Equipment International	0	0	0	0	0.00
Proto Labs	0	0	3	1	3.25

Proto Labs has a consensus price target of $89.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.94%. Given Proto Labs’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Proto Labs is more favorable than Sany Heavy Equipment International.

Summary

Proto Labs beats Sany Heavy Equipment International on 12 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sany Heavy Equipment International

Sany Heavy Equipment International Holdings Company Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the manufacture and sale of mining equipment, logistics equipment, robotic, smart mine products, and spare parts. It operates in two segments, Mining Equipment and Logistics Equipment. The company offers coal mining machinery products, such as road headers, including soft rock and hard rock road headers, integrated excavation, bolting, and self-protection machinery; mining equipment consisting of coal mining machines, hydraulic support system, scraper and armored-face conveyors, etc.; non-coal mining machinery products comprising tunnel road headers and mining machines; and mining transport equipment, which include mechanical and electric drive off-highway dump trucks, widebody vehicles, and other related products. It also provides smart mine products, such as unmanned driving, automated integrated mining, and smart mine operation systems; container equipment comprising front loaders, stacking machines, quayside gantry cranes, etc.; bulk material equipment consisting of grippers, elevated hoisting arms, etc.; general equipment, including heavy-weight forklifts, telehandlers, etc.; and robotic system integration, mobile robots, and electric forklifts. In addition, the company provides maintenance and other, and property development services. It operates in Mainland China, rest of Asia, the European Union, the United States, and internationally. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Shenyang, the People's Republic of China. Sany Heavy Equipment International Holdings Company Limited is a subsidiary of Sany Hongkong Group Limited.

About Proto Labs

Proto Labs, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital manufacturer of custom parts in the United States and Europe. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional printing; and sheet metal fabrication products. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end-markets. Proto Labs, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Maple Plain, Minnesota.