Houston Wire & Cable (NASDAQ: HWCC) and Revolution Lighting Technologies (NASDAQ:RVLT) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitabiliy, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Houston Wire & Cable and Revolution Lighting Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Houston Wire & Cable | -2.28% | -4.09% | -2.33% |
| Revolution Lighting Technologies | -1.42% | 0.08% | 0.05% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Houston Wire & Cable and Revolution Lighting Technologies’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Houston Wire & Cable | $275.64 million | 0.35 | -$275,999.00 | ($0.39) | -15.00 |
| Revolution Lighting Technologies | $175.35 million | 0.88 | $9.82 million | ($0.11) | -66.64 |
Revolution Lighting Technologies has higher revenue, but lower earnings than Houston Wire & Cable. Revolution Lighting Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Houston Wire & Cable, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
69.7% of Houston Wire & Cable shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.3% of Revolution Lighting Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Houston Wire & Cable shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.0% of Revolution Lighting Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Houston Wire & Cable and Revolution Lighting Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Houston Wire & Cable | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Revolution Lighting Technologies | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Houston Wire & Cable presently has a consensus price target of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 36.75%. Revolution Lighting Technologies has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 97.82%. Given Revolution Lighting Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Revolution Lighting Technologies is more favorable than Houston Wire & Cable.
Volatility and Risk
Houston Wire & Cable has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Revolution Lighting Technologies has a beta of 3.76, suggesting that its share price is 276% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Houston Wire & Cable pays an annual dividend of $0.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Revolution Lighting Technologies does not pay a dividend. Houston Wire & Cable pays out -7.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Summary
Revolution Lighting Technologies beats Houston Wire & Cable on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Houston Wire & Cable
Houston Wire & Cable Company is a holding company. The Company is engaged in provision of electrical and mechanical wire and cable, hardware and related services. It operates through sales of wire and cable, hardware and related services segment in the United States market. Its cable management program includes purchasing and storing inventory for product availability. The Company offers products in categories of wire and cable, including continuous and interlocked armor cable; control and power cable; electronic wire and cable; flexible and portable cord; instrumentation and thermocouple cable; lead and high temperature cable; medium voltage cable; premise and category wire and cable; primary and secondary aluminum distribution cable, and synthetic fiber rope slings, chain, shackles, and other related hardware. The Company also offers private branded products, including its brand LifeGuard, a low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) cable. Its products are used in repair and replacement work.
About Revolution Lighting Technologies
Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, markets and sells commercial grade light-emitting diode (LED) and conventional lighting fixtures. The Company operates in Lighting Products and Solutions (principally LED fixtures and lamps) segment. The Company’s products are used for outdoor and indoor applications, LED-based signage, channel-letter and contour lighting products, LED replacement lamps and commercial grade smart grid control systems. It sells its LED products under the RVLT, Seesmart, Lumificient, Value Lighting, Array and CMG brand names. The Company’s commercial lamps and fixtures products include the commercial indoor and outdoor lighting products, such as linear tube lighting, multi-family lighting, commercial troffer lighting and street lighting. It caters to municipal and commercial markets, which include industrial, hospitality, institutional, educational, healthcare and signage markets in the United States, Canada and internationally.
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