Head-To-Head Survey: Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS) versus Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) and Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.8% of Gentex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Cooper-Standard shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Gentex shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.2% of Cooper-Standard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Gentex and Cooper-Standard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gentex	15.15%	16.67%	14.06%
Cooper-Standard	-2.03%	N/A	-2.31%

Risk & Volatility

Gentex has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cooper-Standard has a beta of 2.05, meaning that its share price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Gentex and Cooper-Standard, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gentex	1	6	1	0	2.00
Cooper-Standard	2	1	1	0	1.75

Gentex presently has a consensus target price of $23.08, suggesting a potential upside of 12.27%. Cooper-Standard has a consensus target price of $37.83, suggesting a potential upside of 81.76%. Given Cooper-Standard’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cooper-Standard is more favorable than Gentex.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gentex and Cooper-Standard”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gentex	$2.53 billion	1.73	$384.84 million	$1.86	11.05
Cooper-Standard	$2.74 billion	0.13	-$4.16 million	($3.14)	-6.63

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

Summary

Gentex beats Cooper-Standard on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers. It also provides variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators. In addition, the company offers photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling alarms, and bells and speakers used in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential buildings, as well as researches and develops nanofiber chemical sensing products. It sells its fire protection products directly, as well as through sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations to fire protection and security product distributors, electrical wholesale houses, and original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems. Gentex Corporation was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.

About Cooper-Standard

Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary, Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., manufactures and sells sealing, fuel and brake delivery, and fluid transfer systems in the United States, Mexico, China, Poland, Canada, Germany, France, and internationally. The company offers sealing systems, including dynamic seals, static seals, encapsulated glasses, textured surfaces with cloth appearance, obstacle detection sensor systems, FlushSeal systems, variable extrusions, specialty sealing products, stainless steel trims, and frameless systems. It also provides fuel and brake delivery systems comprising chassis and tank fuel lines and bundles, metallic brake lines and bundles, quick connects, low oligomer multi-layer convoluted tubes, brake jounce lines, direct injection and port fuel rails, MagAlloy break tube coating, and ArmorTube brake tube coating. In addition, the company offers fluid transfer systems, such as heater/coolant hoses, turbo charger hoses, charged air cooler ducts/assemblies, diesel particulate filter lines, secondary air hoses, degas tanks and deaerators, brake and clutch hoses, air intake and discharge systems, transmission oil cooling hoses, high temperature MLTs, and multilayer tubing for glycol thermal management. Its products are primarily used in passenger vehicles and light trucks that are manufactured by automotive original equipment manufacturers and replacement markets. Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Northville, Michigan.