Contrasting CVD Equipment (NASDAQ:CVV) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT)

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) and CVD Equipment (NASDAQ:CVV) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Applied Industrial Technologies and CVD Equipment, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Applied Industrial Technologies	0	1	6	0	2.86
CVD Equipment	1	0	0	0	1.00

Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $323.14, suggesting a potential downside of 4.63%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than CVD Equipment.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.6% of CVD Equipment shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.7% of CVD Equipment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CVD Equipment has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Applied Industrial Technologies and CVD Equipment”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.56 billion	2.74	$392.99 million	$10.59	32.00
CVD Equipment	$25.79 million	2.10	-$1.59 million	($0.51)	-15.31

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

Profitability

This table compares Applied Industrial Technologies and CVD Equipment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.34%	21.64%	12.91%
CVD Equipment	-18.68%	-14.18%	-12.37%

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats CVD Equipment on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment. It also operates fabricated rubber shops and service field crews that install, modify, and repair conveyor belts and rubber linings, as well as offer hose assemblies. In addition, the company provides technical support services; engages in the distribution of fluid power and industrial flow control products; advanced automation solutions, including machine vision, robotics, motion control, and smart technologies. It distributes industrial products through a network of service centers. The company serves various industries, including agriculture and food processing, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, fabricated metals, forest products, industrial machinery and equipment, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, primary metals, technology, transportation, and utilities, as well as government entities. The company was formerly known as Bearings, Inc. and changed its to name to Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. in 1997. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

About CVD Equipment

CVD Equipment Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells equipment to develop and manufacture materials and coatings in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: CVD Equipment, Stainless Design Concepts, and CVD Materials. The CVD Equipment segment offers chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor transport, and thermal process equipment under the FirstNano brand for various markets, such as high power electronics, aerospace advanced materials for gas turbine jet engines, and nanomaterials used in batteries, as well as semiconductors, LEDs, carbon nanotubes, nanowires, solar cells, and other industrial and research applications. The Stainless Design Concepts segment provides ultra-high purity gas and chemical delivery control systems, including gas cylinder storage cabinets, custom gas and chemical delivery systems, gas and liquid valve manifold boxes, and gas isolation boxes for semiconductor fabrication processes, aerospace, solar cells, LEDs, carbon nanotubes, nanowires, and industrial applications. The CVD Materials segment offers products related to advanced materials and coatings, such as MesoPlasma printing services and products comprising heaters, antennas, and sensors to aerospace, satellite, power generation, defense, and other markets. The company also provides annealing, diffusion, and low pressure chemical vapor deposition furnaces; and standard and custom fabricated quartz-ware used in its equipment and other customer tools. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Central Islip, New York.