Reviewing Japan Steel Works (OTCMKTS:JPSWY) & Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT)

Japan Steel Works (OTCMKTS:JPSWY) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Japan Steel Works and Applied Industrial Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Steel Works	0	0	0	0	0.00
Applied Industrial Technologies	0	0	7	0	3.00

Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus target price of $285.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.32%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Japan Steel Works.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Steel Works and Applied Industrial Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Steel Works	6.95%	9.95%	4.94%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.64%	22.01%	12.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Japan Steel Works and Applied Industrial Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Steel Works	$1.63 billion	2.83	$118.54 million	$0.85	36.51
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.48 billion	2.32	$385.76 million	$9.96	27.43

Applied Industrial Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Japan Steel Works. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Japan Steel Works, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Japan Steel Works has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Japan Steel Works pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Japan Steel Works pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats Japan Steel Works on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Steel Works

The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. engages in the provision of industrial machinery products, and material and engineering business in Japan and internationally. It operates through Industrial Machinery Products Business, and Material and Engineering Business segments. The Industrial Machinery Products Business segment offers plastic production and processing machinery, such as pelletizers, film and sheet manufacturing equipment, and twin-screw extruders; molding machines including plastic injection molding, magnesium injection molding, and blow molding machines; and other machinery consists of excimer laser annealing systems, defense equipment, railway products, hot press devices, vacuum laminators, and deposit systems, as well as after-sales services for plastics, mobility, high-performance batteries, electronic devices, and defense applications. The Material and Engineering Business segment provides steel casting and forgings, such as reactor and steam generator parts, rotor shafts, turbine casings, die steel, steel rolls for steel manufacturing, and clad steel plates; and engineering and other services, including design and analysis, welded structures, inspection and survey, and hydrogen pressure accumulators and related products for use in power generation equipment, renewable energy, and infrastructure applications. The company offers photonics, composite materials, and metallic materials for use in semiconductors and electronic devices, cameras and sensing devices, aircraft and mobility components, and electronic parts. The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Shinagawa, Japan.

About Applied Industrial Technologies

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment. It also operates fabricated rubber shops and service field crews that install, modify, and repair conveyor belts and rubber linings, as well as offer hose assemblies. In addition, the company provides technical support services; engages in the distribution of fluid power and industrial flow control products; advanced automation solutions, including machine vision, robotics, motion control, and smart technologies. It distributes industrial products through a network of service centers. The company serves various industries, including agriculture and food processing, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, fabricated metals, forest products, industrial machinery and equipment, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, primary metals, technology, transportation, and utilities, as well as government entities. The company was formerly known as Bearings, Inc. and changed its to name to Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. in 1997. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.