Contrasting Forbo (OTCMKTS:FBOHY) and Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ:APOG)

Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ:APOG) and Forbo (OTCMKTS:FBOHY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Apogee Enterprises and Forbo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apogee Enterprises	0	1	0	0	2.00
Forbo	0	0	0	0	N/A

Apogee Enterprises presently has a consensus target price of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.56%. Given Apogee Enterprises’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Apogee Enterprises is more favorable than Forbo.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Apogee Enterprises and Forbo’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apogee Enterprises	$1.39 billion	1.01	$99.61 million	$4.87	13.14
Forbo	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.20	32.38

Apogee Enterprises has higher revenue and earnings than Forbo. Apogee Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Forbo, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Apogee Enterprises and Forbo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apogee Enterprises	7.72%	24.74%	12.72%
Forbo	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.1% of Apogee Enterprises shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Apogee Enterprises shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Apogee Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Forbo pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Apogee Enterprises pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Forbo pays out 21.1% 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. Apogee Enterprises has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Apogee Enterprises is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Apogee Enterprises beats Forbo on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Apogee Enterprises

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. provides architectural products and services for enclosing buildings, and glass and acrylic products used for preservation, protection, and enhanced viewing in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. The company operates in four segments: Architectural Framing Systems, Architectural Glass, Architectural Services, and Large-Scale Optical (LSO). The Architectural Framing Systems segment designs, engineers, fabricates, finishes, and installs custom glass and aluminum window, curtainwall, storefront, and entrance systems for the exterior of buildings primarily in the non-residential construction sectors. The Architectural Glass segment provides a range of high-performance glass products for use in windows, curtainwall, storefront, and entrance systems. The Architectural Services segment integrates technical services, project management, and field installation services to design, engineer, fabricate, and install building glass and curtainwall systems. The LSO segment manufactures high-performance glazing products for the custom framing, fine art, and engineered optics markets. The company’s products and services are primarily used in commercial buildings, such as office buildings, hotels, and retail centers; institutional buildings comprising education facilities, health care facilities, and government buildings; transportation facilities, such as airports and transit terminals, as well as multi-family residential buildings. It markets its architectural products and services through direct sales force, independent sales representatives, distributors, and glazing subcontractors and general contractors; and value-added glass and acrylics through retail chains, as well as independent distributors to museums, galleries, and other customers. The company was incorporated in 1949 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Forbo

Forbo Holding AG produces and sells floor coverings, building and construction adhesives, and power transmission and conveyor belt solutions in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Africa. The company operates through two divisions, Flooring Systems and Movement Systems. The Flooring Systems division develops, produces, and sells linoleum, vinyl floorings, entrance flooring systems, carpet tiles, needle felt floor coverings, Flotex, the washable textile floorings, and building and construction adhesives, as well as various accessory products for laying, processing, cleaning, and care of flooring. This division also provides ready-made adhesives for floor covering installations, parquet flooring, and ceramic tiles, as well as leveling compounds for the construction industry and liquid floors under the trade name of Eurocol. Its products are used in public buildings, department stores, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, schools, libraries, commercial and office spaces, leisure centers, shops, hotels, restaurants, and cafeterias, as well as for applications in the residential market. The Movement Systems division offers conveyor and processing belts, plastic modular belts, power transmission belts, and timing and flat belts under the Siegling brand name. Its products are used in various applications in industry, trade, and the service sector, including conveyor and processing belts in the food industry; treadmill belts in fitness studios; and flat belts in mail distribution centers. Forbo Holding AG was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.