Head to Head Comparison: Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) and Seiko Epson (OTCMKTS:SEKEY)

Dividends

Ricoh pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Seiko Epson pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ricoh pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seiko Epson pays out 14.5% 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. Seiko Epson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Ricoh and Seiko Epson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ricoh	1.68%	3.91%	1.77%
Seiko Epson	4.02%	6.68%	3.77%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ricoh and Seiko Epson”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ricoh	$16.60 billion	0.31	$301.68 million	$0.46	19.59
Seiko Epson	$8.95 billion	0.52	$369.61 million	$0.55	11.23

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

Volatility and Risk

Ricoh has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seiko Epson has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Seiko Epson beats Ricoh on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ricoh

Ricoh Company, Ltd. provides office, commercial printing, and related solutions worldwide. It operates through Digital services, Digital Products, Graphic Communications, Industrial Solutions, and Other segments. The company sells multifunctional printers (MFPs), laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machines, scanners, personal computers, servers, network equipment, related parts and supplies, services, and support and service and solutions related to documents. It also offers production and OEM services for MFPs, laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machine, scanners, network equipment, and related parts and supplies. In addition, the company produces and sells cut sheet printers, continuous feed printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, related parts and supplies, services, and support and software. Further, it produces and sells thermal paper and media products, industrial optical components/modules, and electronic components and precision mechanical components, as well as offers digital cameras, 360°cameras, and environment and healthcare products. The company was formerly known as Riken Optical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963. Ricoh Company, Ltd. was incorporated in 1936 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Seiko Epson

Seiko Epson Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, sells, and provides services for products in the printing solutions, visual communications, manufacturing-related and wearables, and other businesses. It operates through three segments: Printing Solutions, Visual Communications, and Manufacturing-related and Wearables segments. The Printing Solutions segment offers home and office inkjet printers, serial impact dot matrix printers, page printers, color image scanners, dry process office papermaking systems, commercial and industrial inkjet printers, inkjet printheads, printers for use in POS systems, label printers, printer consumables, and others. The Visual Communications segment provides 3LCD projectors for business, education, the home, and event; smart glasses; and others. The Manufacturing-related and Wearables segment offers wristwatches, watch movements, and others; factory automation products, industrial robots, compact injection molders, and other production systems; and crystal units, crystal oscillators, quartz sensors, and others for consumer, automotive, and industrial equipment applications. This segment also provides CMOS LSIs and other chips primarily for consumer electronics and automotive applications; and metal powders for use as raw materials in the production of electronic components, etc., as well as value-added surface finishing in a range of industrial fields. The company also sells PCs, etc. It has operations in Japan, the Philippines, the United States, Indonesia, China, and internationally. Seiko Epson Corporation was incorporated in 1942 and is headquartered in Suwa, Japan.