Polar Power (NASDAQ: POLA) and NL Industries (NYSE:NL) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Polar Power and NL Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Polar Power | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| NL Industries | 57.98% | 32.04% | 16.44% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Polar Power and NL Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Polar Power | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| NL Industries | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Polar Power currently has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 55.90%. NL Industries has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential downside of 18.92%. Given Polar Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Polar Power is more favorable than NL Industries.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Polar Power and NL Industries’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Polar Power | $24.38 million | 1.87 | $7.64 million | N/A | N/A |
| NL Industries | $114.72 million | 3.14 | $7.92 million | $1.37 | 5.40 |
NL Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Polar Power.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
12.8% of Polar Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.6% of NL Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of NL Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
NL Industries beats Polar Power on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Polar Power
Polar Power, Inc. is engaged in designing, manufacturing and selling direct current (DC) power systems for applications primarily in the telecommunications, military, electric vehicle charging, cogeneration, distributed power and uninterruptable power supply markets. Within the telecommunications market, the Company’s DC power systems provide DC power to service applications that do not have access to the utility grid (such as off-grid applications) or have critical power needs and cannot be without power in the event of utility grid failure (such as back-up power applications). Its product offerings include DC base power systems, DC hybrid power systems and DC solar hybrid power systems. The Company’s technologies include Permanent Magnet Homopolar Hybrid (PMHH) Technology and Supra Controller Technology. Its power and control system architecture is controlled by its digital control system, Supra Controller, which contains software configured to meet specific application needs.
About NL Industries
NL Industries, Inc. is a holding company. The Company operates in the component products industry through its subsidiary, CompX International Inc. (CompX). The Company operates in the chemicals industry through its non-controlling interest in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (Kronos). The Company, through Compx, manufactures engineered components that are sold to a range of industries, including recreational transportation (including boats), postal, office and institutional furniture, cabinetry, tool storage, healthcare, gas stations and vending equipment. Kronos is a global producer and marketer of value-added titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2), a base industrial product used in imparting whiteness, brightness and opacity to a range of customer applications and end use markets, including coatings, plastics, paper, inks, food, cosmetics, and other industrial and consumer products. Kronos has production facilities in Europe and North America.
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