Mueller Industries (NYSE: MLI) and Hutchinson Technology (NASDAQ:HTCH) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Mueller Industries and Hutchinson Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Mueller Industries | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Hutchinson Technology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Dividends
Mueller Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Hutchinson Technology does not pay a dividend. Mueller Industries pays out 22.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hutchinson Technology has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
90.5% of Mueller Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.6% of Hutchinson Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Mueller Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of Hutchinson Technology shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Mueller Industries and Hutchinson Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Mueller Industries | 4.65% | 13.99% | 7.37% |
| Hutchinson Technology | -12.87% | -50.69% | -12.38% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Mueller Industries and Hutchinson Technology’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Mueller Industries | $2.17 billion | 0.79 | $199.46 million | $1.75 | 17.10 |
| Hutchinson Technology | N/A | N/A | N/A | ($0.92) | -4.33 |
Mueller Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Hutchinson Technology. Hutchinson Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mueller Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Mueller Industries has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hutchinson Technology has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Mueller Industries beats Hutchinson Technology on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Mueller Industries
Mueller Industries, Inc. is a manufacturer of copper, brass, aluminum and plastic products. The Company operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals and Climate. The Company’s products include copper tube and fittings; line sets; brass and copper alloy rod, bar, and shapes; aluminum and brass forgings; aluminum impact extrusions; plastic fittings and valves; refrigeration valves and fittings; fabricated tubular products, and steel nipples. The Company also resells imported brass and plastic plumbing valves, malleable iron fittings, faucets, and plumbing specialty products. The Company’s operations are located throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, South Korea, and China. The Company markets its products to the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, refrigeration, hardware, and other industries.
About Hutchinson Technology
Hutchinson Technology Incorporated is a global supplier of critical precision component technologies. The Company is engaged in manufacturing suspension assemblies for all sizes and types of hard disk drives. Suspension assemblies are components of disk drives that hold the read/write heads in position above the spinning magnetic disks. It manufactures its suspension assemblies with technology and processes with low part-to-part variation. The Company categorizes its products as either suspension assemblies or other revenue, which consists primarily of revenue outside of the disk drive industry for precision component manufacturing, tool design, tool build and metrology, suspension assembly components, reimbursement for disk drive industry-related engineering services and specific disk drive program capacity, and biomeasurement products. It sells its suspension assemblies to original equipment manufacturers.
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