Financial Analysis: Corning (NYSE:GLW) vs. LG Display Co. (LPL)

Corning (NYSE: GLW) and LG Display Co. (NYSE:LPL) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitabiliy, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Corning and LG Display Co.’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Corning	$9.72 billion	2.79	$2.71 billion	$3.67	8.04
LG Display Co.	$24.41 billion	0.42	$4.31 billion	N/A	N/A

LG Display Co. has higher revenue and earnings than Corning.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Corning and LG Display Co., as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Corning	1	9	4	0	2.21
LG Display Co.	4	1	1	0	1.50

Corning currently has a consensus price target of $27.29, suggesting a potential downside of 7.45%. LG Display Co. has a consensus price target of $13.18, suggesting a potential downside of 7.44%. Given LG Display Co.’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe LG Display Co. is more favorable than Corning.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.7% of Corning shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.9% of LG Display Co. shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Corning shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Corning has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LG Display Co. has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Corning and LG Display Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Corning	42.69%	11.25%	6.28%
LG Display Co.	6.16%	12.08%	6.59%

Dividends

Corning pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. LG Display Co. does not pay a dividend. Corning pays out 16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Corning has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Summary

Corning beats LG Display Co. on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Corning Company Profile

Corning Incorporated is engaged in manufacturing specialty glass and ceramics. Its segments include Display Technologies, Optical Communications, Environmental Technologies, Specialty Materials, Life Sciences and All Other. The Display Technologies segment manufactures glass substrates for flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs). The Optical Communications segment manufactures carrier and enterprise network components for the telecommunications industry. The Environmental Technologies segment manufactures ceramic substrates and filters for automotive and diesel emission control applications. As of December 31, 2016, the Specialty Materials segment manufactured products, which provided more than 150 material formulations for glass, glass ceramics and fluoride crystals. The Life Sciences segment manufactures glass and plastic labware, equipment, media and reagents. The All Other segment consists of its Pharmaceutical Technologies business and non-LCD glass business, and among others.

LG Display Co. Company Profile

LG Display Co., Ltd. manufactures thin-film transistor liquid crystal display, organic light emitting diode and other display panel technologies. The Company manufactures display panels in a range of sizes and specifications primarily for use in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablet computers and various other applications, including mobile devices. The Company supplies ultra-high definition television panels. It also manufactures display panels for industrial and other applications, including entertainment systems, automotive displays, portable navigation devices and medical diagnostic equipment. It operates fabrication facilities, which include separately designated sets of fabrication production lines housed in certain facilities, located in its Display Clusters in Gumi and Paju, Korea and in Guangzhou China, and approximately four separately designated sets of fabrication production lines housed in certain facilities.