Head-To-Head Analysis: Evolv Technologies (NASDAQ:EVLV) and Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI)

Evolv Technologies (NASDAQ:EVLV) and Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Evolv Technologies and Badger Meter, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evolv Technologies	1	1	4	0	2.50
Badger Meter	1	5	6	0	2.42

Evolv Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $9.81, indicating a potential upside of 109.22%. Badger Meter has a consensus target price of $166.33, indicating a potential upside of 12.37%. Given Evolv Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Evolv Technologies is more favorable than Badger Meter.

Volatility & Risk

Evolv Technologies has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Badger Meter has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.7% of Evolv Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Evolv Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Badger Meter shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Evolv Technologies and Badger Meter’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evolv Technologies	-3.05%	-4.53%	-1.72%
Badger Meter	14.36%	18.49%	13.02%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Evolv Technologies and Badger Meter”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evolv Technologies	$145.90 million	5.82	-$33.14 million	($0.03)	-156.33
Badger Meter	$916.66 million	4.61	$141.63 million	$4.33	34.18

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

Summary

Badger Meter beats Evolv Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Evolv Technologies

Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. provides artificial intelligence (AI)-based weapons detection for security screening in the United States and internationally. Its products include Evolv Express, a touchless security screening system designed to detect firearms, improvised explosive devices, and tactical knives; and Evolv Insights that provides self-serve access, insights regarding visitor flow and arrival curves, location specific performance, system detection performance, and alarm statistics. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc. manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives. In addition, the company offers ORION Cellular endpoints to power network as a service; ORION mobile read endpoints support for deploying AMR solution; radio products; hardware, instruments, and sensors, and related software, to enhance connected data to a water utility's operation; water quality monitoring solutions, including optical sensing and electrochemical instruments; and high frequency pressure and leak detection sensors to aid in burst pipe and leak events; as well as BEACON, a secure cloud-hosted software suite that establishes alerts for specific conditions and allows consumer engagement tools that permit end water customers to view and manage their water usage activity. Its flow instrumentation products are used in water/wastewater, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and corporate sustainability markets. The company serves water utilities, commercial, and industrial industries; and provides training, project management, technical support, and other collaborative services for customers. It sells its products and software directly, as well as through resellers and representatives. The company was incorporated in 1905 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.