Analyzing Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) and Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) and Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Gentex and Wabash National, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gentex	0	6	2	0	2.25
Wabash National	1	2	0	0	1.67

Gentex presently has a consensus target price of $26.71, indicating a potential upside of 12.43%. Wabash National has a consensus target price of $9.00, indicating a potential downside of 17.24%. Given Gentex’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Gentex is more favorable than Wabash National.

Dividends

Gentex pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Wabash National pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Gentex pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wabash National pays out 5.3% 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. Wabash National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Gentex and Wabash National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gentex	15.19%	16.05%	13.85%
Wabash National	15.89%	-15.21%	-3.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.8% of Gentex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.1% of Wabash National shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gentex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Wabash National shares are owned 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

Gentex has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wabash National has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gentex and Wabash National”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gentex	$2.53 billion	2.05	$384.84 million	$1.74	13.66
Wabash National	$1.95 billion	0.23	-$284.07 million	$6.08	1.79

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

Summary

Gentex beats Wabash National on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers. It also provides variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators. In addition, the company offers photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling alarms, and bells and speakers used in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential buildings, as well as researches and develops nanofiber chemical sensing products. It sells its fire protection products directly, as well as through sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations to fire protection and security product distributors, electrical wholesale houses, and original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems. Gentex Corporation was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.

About Wabash National

Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.