Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) and Burnham (OTCMKTS:BURCA) Head-To-Head Review

Burnham (OTCMKTS:BURCA) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Burnham and Trimble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Burnham	6.47%	13.03%	8.07%
Trimble	9.93%	10.73%	6.65%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Burnham and Trimble”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Burnham	$270.18 million	0.31	$11.95 million	$3.70	6.74
Trimble	$3.60 billion	5.30	$1.50 billion	$1.46	54.96

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.5% of Burnham shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Trimble shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Trimble shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Burnham has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trimble has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Burnham and Trimble, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Burnham	0	0	0	0	0.00
Trimble	0	2	8	1	2.91

Trimble has a consensus target price of $96.78, suggesting a potential upside of 20.61%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than Burnham.

Summary

Trimble beats Burnham on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Burnham

Burnham Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells boilers and related heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products and accessories for residential, commercial, and industrial applications in the United States and internationally. Its residential hydronic heating products include cast iron, stainless steel, and steel boilers; cast iron and steel heat distribution products; radiators; and warm air furnaces and central air conditioning systems for the residential heating and cooling markets, including units for the manufactured housing industry. The company's commercial and industrial heating products comprise a range of cast iron, stainless steel, fire tube, water tube, copper tube boilers, and water heaters; and boiler room accessories that are used for various applications, such as military bases, multi-unit residential buildings, health care, government, education, and hospital facilities. The company sells its residential products through wholesale distributors to builders, heating contractors, fuel dealers, and utilities for resale to end-use customers; and commercial products primarily through independent sales representatives, directly to contractors, or end users. Burnham Holdings, Inc. is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.