Comparing XPEL (NASDAQ:XPEL) & Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS)

XPEL (NASDAQ:XPEL) and Cooper-Standard (NYSE:CPS) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares XPEL and Cooper-Standard”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
XPEL	$420.40 million	2.43	$45.49 million	$1.76	20.98
Cooper-Standard	$2.73 billion	0.19	-$78.75 million	$1.62	18.12

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for XPEL and Cooper-Standard, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
XPEL	1	0	0	0	1.00
Cooper-Standard	0	1	0	0	2.00

Cooper-Standard has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential downside of 59.13%. Given Cooper-Standard’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cooper-Standard is more favorable than XPEL.

Profitability

This table compares XPEL and Cooper-Standard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
XPEL	10.84%	21.17%	16.90%
Cooper-Standard	1.08%	N/A	-0.58%

Volatility and Risk

XPEL has a beta of 1.83, indicating that its share price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cooper-Standard has a beta of 2.92, indicating that its share price is 192% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.1% of XPEL shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.1% of Cooper-Standard shares are held by institutional investors. 9.5% of XPEL shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of Cooper-Standard shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

XPEL beats Cooper-Standard on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About XPEL

XPEL, Inc. sells, distributes, and installs protective films and coatings worldwide. The company offers automotive surface and paint protection film, headlight protection, and automotive and architectural window films, as well as proprietary DAP software. It also provides pre-cut film products, merchandise and apparel, ceramic coatings, and tools and accessories. In addition, the company offers paint protection kits, car wash products, after-care products, and installation tools through its website. The company sells and distributes its products through independent installers, new car dealerships, third-party distributors, automobile original equipment manufacturers, and company-owned installation centers, as well as through franchisees and online channels. The company serves in the United States, China, Canada, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East/Africa, and internationally. XPEL, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

About Cooper-Standard

Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary, Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., manufactures and sells sealing, fuel and brake delivery, and fluid transfer systems in the United States, Mexico, China, Poland, Canada, Germany, France, and internationally. The company offers sealing systems, including dynamic seals, static seals, encapsulated glasses, textured surfaces with cloth appearance, obstacle detection sensor systems, FlushSeal systems, variable extrusions, specialty sealing products, stainless steel trims, and frameless systems. It also provides fuel and brake delivery systems comprising chassis and tank fuel lines and bundles, metallic brake lines and bundles, quick connects, low oligomer multi-layer convoluted tubes, brake jounce lines, direct injection and port fuel rails, MagAlloy break tube coating, and ArmorTube brake tube coating. In addition, the company offers fluid transfer systems, such as heater/coolant hoses, turbo charger hoses, charged air cooler ducts/assemblies, diesel particulate filter lines, secondary air hoses, degas tanks and deaerators, brake and clutch hoses, air intake and discharge systems, transmission oil cooling hoses, high temperature MLTs, and multilayer tubing for glycol thermal management. Its products are primarily used in passenger vehicles and light trucks that are manufactured by automotive original equipment manufacturers and replacement markets. Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Northville, Michigan.