Comparing Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) & NAPCO Security Technologies (NASDAQ:NSSC)

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.1% of NAPCO Security Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Badger Meter shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of NAPCO Security Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Badger Meter shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

NAPCO Security Technologies has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Badger Meter has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for NAPCO Security Technologies and Badger Meter, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NAPCO Security Technologies	0	2	6	0	2.75
Badger Meter	1	5	5	0	2.36

NAPCO Security Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $50.40, indicating a potential upside of 39.07%. Badger Meter has a consensus target price of $164.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.39%. Given NAPCO Security Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe NAPCO Security Technologies is more favorable than Badger Meter.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NAPCO Security Technologies	21.27%	31.41%	26.06%
Badger Meter	14.27%	18.03%	12.82%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NAPCO Security Technologies and Badger Meter”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NAPCO Security Technologies	$202.32 million	6.41	$43.03 million	$1.21	29.95
Badger Meter	$916.66 million	4.27	$141.63 million	$4.28	31.57

Badger Meter has higher revenue and earnings than NAPCO Security Technologies. NAPCO Security 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.

Dividends

NAPCO Security Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Badger Meter pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. NAPCO Security Technologies pays out 49.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Badger Meter pays out 41.1% 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. NAPCO Security Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Badger Meter has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years.

Summary

NAPCO Security Technologies beats Badger Meter on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NAPCO Security Technologies

Napco Security Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells electronic security systems for commercial, residential, institutional, industrial, and governmental applications in the United States and internationally. Its access control systems include various types of identification readers, control panels, PC-based computers, and electronically activated door-locking devices; intrusion and fire alarm systems, consists of various detectors, a control panel, a digital keypad and signaling equipment; and door locking devices comprise microprocessor-based electronic door locks with push button, card readers and bio-metric operation, door alarms, mechanical door locks, and simple dead bolt locks. The company’s alarm systems include automatic communicators, cellular communication devices, control panels, combination control panels/digital communicators and digital keypad systems, fire alarm control panels, and area detectors; and video surveillance systems comprise video cameras, control panels, video monitors, or PCs. It also buys and resells various identification readers, video cameras, PC-based computers, and various peripheral equipment for access control and video surveillance systems; offers school security products; and markets peripheral and related equipment manufactured by other companies. The company markets and sells its products to independent distributors, dealers, and installers of security equipment. Napco Security Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Amityville, New York.

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.