Critical Comparison: ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) & Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY)

Murata Manufacturing (OTCMKTS:MRAAY) and ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Murata Manufacturing pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. ePlus pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Murata Manufacturing pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ePlus pays out 23.6% 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. ePlus is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Murata Manufacturing has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ePlus has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murata Manufacturing	0	1	1	1	3.00
ePlus	0	2	0	0	2.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.8% of Murata Manufacturing shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of ePlus shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of ePlus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Murata Manufacturing and ePlus”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	7.21	$1.54 billion	$0.47	51.04
ePlus	$2.44 billion	0.99	$132.64 million	$4.57	20.18

Murata Manufacturing has higher revenue and earnings than ePlus. ePlus 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 ePlus’ 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%
ePlus	4.91%	11.51%	6.73%

Summary

Murata Manufacturing beats ePlus on 10 of the 16 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 ePlus

ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services. The Financing segment engages in financing arrangements, such as sales-type and operating leases; loans and consumption-based financing arrangements; and underwriting, management, and disposal of IT equipment and assets. Its financing operations comprise sales, pricing, credit, contracts, accounting, and risk and asset management. This segment primarily finances IT, communication-related, and medical equipment; and industrial machinery and equipment, office furniture and general office equipment, transportation equipment, and other general business equipment directly, as well as through vendors. The company serves commercial entities, state and local governments, government contractors, healthcare, and educational institutions. The company was formerly known as MLC Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to ePlus inc. in 1999. ePlus inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.