Comparing Brady (NYSE:BRC) & Multi Ways (NYSE:MWG)

Multi Ways (NYSE:MWG) and Brady (NYSE:BRC) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Multi Ways and Brady, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Multi Ways	0	0	0	0	N/A
Brady	0	0	1	0	3.00

Brady has a consensus price target of $65.00, indicating a potential downside of 11.17%. Given Brady’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brady is more favorable than Multi Ways.

Profitability

This table compares Multi Ways and Brady’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Multi Ways	N/A	N/A	N/A
Brady	14.70%	19.84%	14.27%

Risk and Volatility

Multi Ways has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brady has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.8% of Multi Ways shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.3% of Brady shares are held by institutional investors. 15.6% of Brady shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Multi Ways and Brady”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Multi Ways	$36.02 million	0.23	$1.79 million	N/A	N/A
Brady	$1.34 billion	2.59	$197.21 million	$3.92	18.67

Brady has higher revenue and earnings than Multi Ways.

Summary

Brady beats Multi Ways on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Multi Ways

Multi Ways Holdings Limited supplies a range of heavy construction equipment for sales and rental in Singapore, Australia, and internationally. The company engages in the supplying and rental of new and used heavy construction equipment in the infrastructure, building construction, mining, offshore and marine, and oil and gas industries. It offers earth-moving equipment, such as bulldozers, off-terrain dump trucks, excavators, and wheel loaders; material-handling equipment, such as crawler cranes, rough terrain cranes, scissor lifts, forklifts, boom-lifts, and telescopic handlers; road-building equipment comprising motor graders, vibrating compactors, asphalt finishers, skid loaders, backhoe loaders, hand rollers, and mini excavators; and air compressors, generators, lighting towers, and welding machines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Singapore. Multi Ways Holdings Limited operates as a subsidiary of MWE Investments Limited.

About Brady

Brady Corporation manufactures and supplies identification solutions (IDS) and workplace safety (WPS) products to identify and protect premises, products, and people in the United States and internationally. The company offers materials, printing systems, RFID, and bar code scanners for product identification, brand protection labeling, work in process labeling, finished product identification, and industrial track and trace applications; safety signs, floor-marking tapes, pipe markers, labeling systems, spill control products, lockout/tagout device, and software and services for safety compliance auditing, procedure writing, and training; and hand-held printers, wire markers, sleeves, and tags for wire identification. It also provides name tags, badges, lanyards, rigid card printing systems, and access control software for people identification; and wristbands, labels, printing systems, and other products for tracking and improving the safety of patients. In addition, the company offers workplace safety, identification, and compliance products, such as safety and compliance signs, tags, labels, and markings; informational signage and markings; asset tracking labels; facility safety and personal protection equipment; first-aid products; and other compliance products for process, government, education, construction, and utilities industries. Further, it provides stock and custom identification products; and sells related resale products. The company serves industrial and electronic manufacturing, healthcare, chemical, oil, gas, automotive, aerospace, governments, mass transit, electrical contractors, education, leisure and entertainment, telecommunications, and other industries through distributors, direct sales force, and digital channels. Brady Corporation was incorporated in 1914 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.