Critical Survey: Gorman-Rupp (NYSE:GRC) versus Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM)

Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) and Gorman-Rupp (NYSE:GRC) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.3% of Gorman-Rupp shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of Symbotic shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Gorman-Rupp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Symbotic and Gorman-Rupp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Symbotic	2	5	7	0	2.36
Gorman-Rupp	0	2	1	0	2.33

Symbotic currently has a consensus target price of $65.83, suggesting a potential upside of 73.57%. Given Symbotic’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Symbotic is more favorable than Gorman-Rupp.

Volatility & Risk

Symbotic has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gorman-Rupp has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Symbotic and Gorman-Rupp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Symbotic	$2.65 billion	8.67	-$16.94 million	$0.09	421.44
Gorman-Rupp	$722.48 million	2.63	$53.02 million	$2.80	25.70

Gorman-Rupp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Symbotic. Gorman-Rupp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Symbotic, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Symbotic and Gorman-Rupp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Symbotic	0.48%	1.40%	0.41%
Gorman-Rupp	10.20%	17.13%	8.61%

About Symbotic

Symbotic Inc., an automation technology company, engages in developing technologies to improve operating efficiencies in modern warehouses. The company automates the processing of pallets and cases in large warehouses or distribution centers for retail companies. Its systems enhance operations at the front end of the supply chain. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

About Gorman-Rupp

The Gorman-Rupp Company designs, manufactures, and sells pumps and pump systems in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include self-priming centrifugal, standard centrifugal, magnetic drive centrifugal, axial and mixed flow, vertical turbine line shaft, submersible, high-pressure booster, rotary gear, diaphragm, bellows, and oscillating pumps. Its products are used in water, wastewater, construction, dewatering, industrial, petroleum, original equipment, agriculture, fire suppression, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, military, and other liquid-handling applications. The company markets its products through a network of distributors, manufacturers’ representatives, third-party distributor catalogs, direct sales, and e-commerce. The Gorman-Rupp Company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Mansfield, Ohio.