Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) vs. Omron (OTCMKTS:OMRNY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Omron (OTCMKTS:OMRNY) and Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

Omron pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Cognex pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Omron pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cognex pays out 33.0% 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. Cognex has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Omron and Cognex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Omron	4.04%	3.68%	2.42%
Cognex	16.05%	13.50%	10.02%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.1% of Omron shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Cognex shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Cognex shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Omron has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cognex has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Omron and Cognex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Omron	$5.10 billion	1.61	$188.01 million	$1.05	37.85
Cognex	$994.36 million	9.69	$114.44 million	$1.03	55.60

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Omron and Cognex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Omron	0	2	0	0	2.00
Cognex	0	7	10	1	2.67

Cognex has a consensus price target of $75.57, suggesting a potential upside of 31.96%. Given Cognex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cognex is more favorable than Omron.

Summary

Cognex beats Omron on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Omron

OMRON Corporation engages in industrial automation, device and module solutions, social systems, and healthcare businesses worldwide. The Industrial Automation Business offers sensors, switches, safety and control components, relays, motion and drives, robotics, energy conservation, power supplies, and automation system products. It also offers environmental mobility, digital devices, food and commodity, logistic and warehouse automation, medical, robotic, panel, vision, software, and traceability related solutions. The Social Systems, Solutions and Service Business provides energy, public transport, traffic safety, network protection, payment, infrastructure monitoring, management service, and DX solutions, as well as offers remote surveillance/monitoring, automation/robotics, software development, engineering/maintenance, and other services. The Healthcare Business provides cardiovascular, respiratory care, pain management, remote patient monitoring, and other solutions. The Device and Module Solutions Business offers relays, switches, connectors, and sensors. OMRON Corporation was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process. The company offers VisionPro software, a suite of patented vision tools for advanced programming; QuickBuild that allows customers to build vision applications with a graphical, flowchart-based programming interface; and Cognex deep learning vision software. It also provides a range of inspection tasks, including part location, identification, measurement, assembly verification, and robotic guidance; vision sensors for vision applications, such as checking the presence and size of parts; and the In-Sight product line of vision systems and sensors. In addition, the company offers DataMan, an image-based barcode readers and barcode verifiers. It sells its products to automotive, logistics, consumer electronics, medical-related, semiconductor, consumer products, food and beverage, and others, as well as through a network of distributors and integrators. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts.