Head to Head Comparison: BWX Technologies (BWXT) vs. DigitalGlobe (DGI)

BWX Technologies (NYSE: BWXT) and DigitalGlobe (NYSE:DGI) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for BWX Technologies and DigitalGlobe, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BWX Technologies	0	1	4	0	2.80
DigitalGlobe	0	4	1	0	2.20

BWX Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $51.40, indicating a potential downside of 3.55%. DigitalGlobe has a consensus price target of $33.90, indicating a potential upside of 0.30%. Given DigitalGlobe’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe DigitalGlobe is more favorable than BWX Technologies.

Volatility and Risk

BWX Technologies has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DigitalGlobe has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

BWX Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. DigitalGlobe does not pay a dividend. BWX Technologies pays out 23.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares BWX Technologies and DigitalGlobe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BWX Technologies	11.81%	107.13%	12.81%
DigitalGlobe	0.64%	2.40%	0.97%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.5% of BWX Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of DigitalGlobe shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of BWX Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of DigitalGlobe shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BWX Technologies and DigitalGlobe’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BWX Technologies	$1.62 billion	3.27	$322.78 million	$1.89	28.20
DigitalGlobe	$809.90 million	2.60	$402.60 million	$0.02	1,690.85

DigitalGlobe has higher revenue, but lower earnings than BWX Technologies. BWX Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DigitalGlobe, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

BWX Technologies beats DigitalGlobe on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BWX Technologies

BWX Technologies, Inc. is a manufacturer of nuclear components and a service provider. The Company’s businesses focus on the design, engineering and manufacture of precision naval nuclear components, reactors and nuclear fuel for the United States Government. Its segments include Nuclear Operations, Technical Services, Nuclear Energy and Other. It provides uranium processing and environmental site restoration services, as well as a range of products and services to customers in the nuclear power industry. Nuclear Operations engineers, designs and manufactures precision naval nuclear components and reactors for the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Technical Services provides various services to the United States Government. Nuclear Energy designs, licenses, manufactures and delivers commercial nuclear steam generators, pressure vessels, reactor components, heat exchangers and other auxiliary equipment.

About DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe, Inc. is a provider of Earth imagery, data and analysis. The Company’s imagery solutions and other services support a range of uses, including mission-planning, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration and infrastructure management. The Company’s imagery solutions and other services are sourced from its own satellite constellation and third-party providers. The Company sells its products and services through a combination of direct and indirect channels, consisting of a global network of resellers, strategic partners and direct enterprise sales to its United States Government and Diversified Commercial customer groups. The Company offers products consisting of imagery from its constellation of satellites, and provides geospatial products and services. The Company processes its imagery to varying levels according to its customers’ specifications and delivers its products using the distribution method.