Lincoln Electric Holdings (NASDAQ: LECO) and Rofin-Sinar Technologies (NASDAQ:RSTI) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Lincoln Electric Holdings pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Rofin-Sinar Technologies does not pay a dividend. Lincoln Electric Holdings pays out 40.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lincoln Electric Holdings has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Lincoln Electric Holdings and Rofin-Sinar Technologies’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Lincoln Electric Holdings | $2.34 billion | 2.39 | $396.19 million | $3.46 | 24.58 |
| Rofin-Sinar Technologies | N/A | N/A | N/A | $1.17 | 27.82 |
Lincoln Electric Holdings has higher revenue and earnings than Rofin-Sinar Technologies. Lincoln Electric Holdings is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rofin-Sinar Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Lincoln Electric Holdings has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rofin-Sinar Technologies has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lincoln Electric Holdings and Rofin-Sinar Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Lincoln Electric Holdings | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2.22 |
| Rofin-Sinar Technologies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Lincoln Electric Holdings currently has a consensus target price of $86.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.14%. Given Lincoln Electric Holdings’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Lincoln Electric Holdings is more favorable than Rofin-Sinar Technologies.
Profitability
This table compares Lincoln Electric Holdings and Rofin-Sinar Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Lincoln Electric Holdings | 9.86% | 30.55% | 11.92% |
| Rofin-Sinar Technologies | 9.13% | 8.22% | 6.46% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
64.5% of Lincoln Electric Holdings shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.0% of Rofin-Sinar Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lincoln Electric Holdings shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Rofin-Sinar Technologies 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
Lincoln Electric Holdings beats Rofin-Sinar Technologies on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
Lincoln Electric Holdings Company Profile
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. is a manufacturer of welding, cutting and brazing products. The Company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding and The Harris Products Group. The Americas Welding segment includes welding operations in North and South America. The International Welding segment primarily includes welding operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Harris Products Group includes the Company’s global cutting, soldering and brazing businesses, as well as the retail business in the United States. Its welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, integrated automation systems, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes, fluxes and welding accessories, and specialty welding consumables and fabrication. Its product offerings also include computer numeric controlled plasma and oxy-fuel cutting systems, and regulators and torches used in oxy-fuel welding, cutting and brazing.
Rofin-Sinar Technologies Company Profile
ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc. is engaged in the design, development, engineering, manufacturing and marketing of laser sources and laser-based system solutions for industrial material processing applications, which include primarily cutting, welding and marking a range of materials. The Company offers a range of laser components. Its Laser macro products offering consists of laser products, which are produced and marketed under the brand names, including ROFIN, PRC, NELC, Nufern and DILAS. Its family of laser products for marking applications includes PowerLine, PowerLine Pico, MultiScan VS/HE and LabelMarker Series. Its laser micro product offering consists of laser products, which are marketed under the ROFIN, DILAS, Corelase and Lee Laser brand names.
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