Reviewing Byrna Technologies (NASDAQ:BYRN) & Syntec Optics (NASDAQ:OPTX)

Byrna Technologies (NASDAQ:BYRN) and Syntec Optics (NASDAQ:OPTX) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

25.5% of Byrna Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 9.8% of Byrna Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Syntec Optics shares are held by company 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 Byrna Technologies and Syntec Optics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Byrna Technologies	$118.12 million	0.68	$9.69 million	($0.18)	-19.67
Syntec Optics	$28.08 million	10.11	-$1.79 million	($0.08)	-88.12

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Byrna Technologies and Syntec Optics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Byrna Technologies	1	2	1	2	2.67
Syntec Optics	1	0	0	0	1.00

Byrna Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $7.88, suggesting a potential upside of 122.46%. Given Byrna Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Byrna Technologies is more favorable than Syntec Optics.

Volatility and Risk

Byrna Technologies has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Syntec Optics has a beta of -0.86, meaning that its share price is 186% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Byrna Technologies and Syntec Optics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Byrna Technologies	-3.39%	-5.85%	-4.74%
Syntec Optics	-10.95%	-30.86%	-12.35%

Summary

Byrna Technologies beats Syntec Optics on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Byrna Technologies

Byrna Technologies Inc., a non-lethal defense technology company, provides non-lethal alternative solutions for law enforcement and private security. The company offers handheld personal security devices and shoulder-fired launchers without the need for background check or firearm license; and projectiles including chemical irritant, kinetic, and inert rounds. It offers self-defense aerosol products under the Byran Bad Guy Repellent brand; and accessories and related safety products, which includes carbon dioxide canisters, sighting systems, and holster under the Byran Banshee and Byran Shield brand, as well as Byrna-branded apparel. In addition, the company provides the products to the consumer market through Byrna e-commerce store and Amazon storefront, and network of local, regional and national outdoor and sporting goods stores, either directly or through distributors; and professional security market through Train the Trainer program and de-escalation methods. It operates in the United States, South Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and Canada. The company was formerly known as Security Devices International, Inc. and changed its name to Byrna Technologies Inc. in March 2020. Byrna Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.

About Syntec Optics

Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. manufactures and supplies integrated optics for biomedical, defense and military, consumer, and other applications. It offers camera modules; tool design, design for manufacturing, optical and opto-mechanical design, and moldflow analysis; SPDT optics, such as freedom optics, microlens arrays, spheres and aspheres, diffractives, SPDT materials, and optical tooling; replicative molding, that includes polymer and glass molding, and molded production materials; thin film coating and coating curve materials; and precision machining and precision machining materials. The company also provides clean room assembly, such as opto mechanical, opto electronic, and integrated photonics; infrared optics, microlens arrays, software development, and optical metrology, and catalog optics services. In addition, it offers driverless cars, integrated photonics, robotics, sensors, VR and AR, machine vision, facial imagining, heads up display, finger print scanners, and laser scanners technology for consumers; night vision goggles, missile laser guides, biometrics, infrared and thermal imaging, ordnance optics, head mounted displays, 2D and 3D scanners, humvee lighting , laser targeting, protective domes and windows, and lidar technologies for defense and miliary; and medical diagnostic, microfluidics, surgical components and systems, and medical sensing technology for medical sectors. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Rochester, New York.