Contrasting Befesa (OTCMKTS:BFSAF) & Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI)

Befesa (OTCMKTS:BFSAF) and Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Befesa and Pitney Bowes, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Befesa	0	2	3	0	2.60
Pitney Bowes	0	3	3	1	2.71

Pitney Bowes has a consensus price target of $18.45, indicating a potential upside of 15.24%. Given Pitney Bowes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pitney Bowes is more favorable than Befesa.

Profitability

This table compares Befesa and Pitney Bowes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Befesa	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pitney Bowes	10.04%	-31.37%	8.02%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Befesa and Pitney Bowes”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Befesa	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pitney Bowes	$1.89 billion	1.16	$144.70 million	$1.22	13.12

Pitney Bowes has higher revenue and earnings than Befesa.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.9% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Pitney Bowes beats Befesa on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Befesa

Befesa S.A. offers environmental recycling services to the steel and aluminum industries in European, Asian, and North American markets. It operates through two segments, Steel Dust Recycling Services and Aluminium Salt Slags Recycling Services. The Steel Dust Recycling Services segment collects and recycles crude steel dust and other steel residues generated in the production of crude, stainless, and galvanized steel; sells waelz oxide to zinc smelters; and treats crude steel dust. The Aluminium Salt Slags Recycling Services segment recycles salt slags; spent pot linings, a hazardous residue generated by primary aluminium producers; and recovers and sells salt, aluminium concentrate, and aluminium oxides. This segment also collects and recycles aluminium scrap and other aluminium residues, such as aluminium dross, shavings, cuttings, and aluminum concentrates; and produces secondary aluminium alloys for automotive and construction industries. It also provides logistics, and waelz oxide and aluminum waste treatment services, as well as develops projects and technology. Befesa S.A. was founded in 1987 and is based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc., a shipping and mailing company, provides technology, logistics, and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises, retailers, and government clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through Global Ecommerce, Presort Services, and SendTech Solutions segments. The Global Ecommerce segment provides domestic parcel services, cross-border solutions, and digital delivery services. The Presort Services segment offers mail sortation services, which allow clients to qualify volumes of first-class mail, marketing mail, marketing mail flats, and bound printed matter for postal work sharing discounts. The SendTech Solutions segment provides physical and digital mailing and shipping technology solutions, and other applications for sending, tracking and receiving of letters, parcels, and flats as well as financing alternatives to finance equipment and product purchases. It markets its products, solutions, and services through direct and inside sales force, global and regional partner channels, direct mailings, and digital channels. The company was formerly known as Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company. Pitney Bowes Inc. was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.