Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) and Kone Oyj (OTCMKTS:KNYJY) Critical Analysis

Kone Oyj (OTCMKTS:KNYJY) and Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Kone Oyj and Luxfer’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kone Oyj	8.33%	38.87%	10.68%
Luxfer	2.20%	12.22%	7.23%

Risk & Volatility

Kone Oyj has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Luxfer has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Kone Oyj and Luxfer, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kone Oyj	3	3	1	1	2.00
Luxfer	0	2	0	1	2.67

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.8% of Luxfer shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Luxfer shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Kone Oyj and Luxfer”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kone Oyj	$12.72 billion	2.25	$1.11 billion	$1.06	29.82
Luxfer	$384.60 million	1.21	$7.70 million	$0.30	57.55

Kone Oyj has higher revenue and earnings than Luxfer. Kone Oyj is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Luxfer, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Kone Oyj pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Luxfer pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Kone Oyj pays out 42.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Luxfer pays out 173.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Kone Oyj beats Luxfer on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kone Oyj

KONE Oyj, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the elevator and escalator business worldwide. The company provides elevators, escalators, and automatic building doors. It offers maintenance services; and modernization solutions. In addition, the company offers KONE Office Flow, a connected solution that allows for personalized user experiences and touch-free access; health and well-being solutions for elevators, escalators, and doors; KONE Access, an access control system, which is integrated with elevator system and building doors; KONE Destination, a destination control system that reduce waiting and travel times; KONE infotainment, a communication channel for building tenants and visitors; and monitoring solutions that enable real-time inspection of elevators and escalators. Further, it provides people flow planning and consulting services; solutions for special buildings and large projects; cybersecurity solutions; and energy solutions for greener buildings. KONE Oyj was founded in 1908 and is based in Espoo, Finland.

About Luxfer

Luxfer Holdings PLC, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance materials, components, and high-pressure gas containment devices for defense and first response, healthcare, transportation, and general industrial applications. The company operates through three segments: Elektron, Gas Cylinders, and graphic Arts. The Elektron segment focuses on specialty materials based primarily on magnesium and zirconium. This segment also provides magnesium alloys for use in aerospace, healthcare, and oil and gas applications; magnesium powders for use in countermeasure flares, as well as heater meals; and zirconium-based materials and oxides used as catalysts and in the manufacture of advanced ceramics, fiber-optic fuel cells, pharmaceuticals, and other performance products. The Gas Cylinders segment manufactures and markets specialized products using carbon composites and aluminum alloys, including pressurized cylinders for use in various applications comprising self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for firefighters, containment of oxygen, and other medical gases for healthcare, alternative fuel vehicles, and general industrial applications. The Graphic Art segments provides magnesium photo-engraving plates, engraving metals, and etching chemicals. This segment also offers magnesium, copper, and zinc photo-engraving plates for graphic arts and luxury packaging; developer solutions; and solid wrought magnesium slab and sheet. Luxfer Holdings PLC has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, rest of Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.