Reviewing Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) & Federal Screw Works (OTCMKTS:FSCR)

Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) and Federal Screw Works (OTCMKTS:FSCR) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wabash National and Federal Screw Works”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wabash National	$1.54 billion	0.36	$211.45 million	($1.60)	-8.44
Federal Screw Works	$97.55 million	0.11	$1.62 million	$0.71	10.70

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

Profitability

This table compares Wabash National and Federal Screw Works’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wabash National	-4.41%	-30.16%	-8.79%
Federal Screw Works	0.99%	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Wabash National and Federal Screw Works, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wabash National	1	1	1	0	2.00
Federal Screw Works	0	0	0	0	0.00

Wabash National presently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.36%. Given Wabash National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Wabash National is more favorable than Federal Screw Works.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.1% of Wabash National shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Wabash National shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 46.2% of Federal Screw Works shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Wabash National has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Screw Works has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wabash National beats Federal Screw Works on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Federal Screw Works

Federal Screw Works manufactures and sells industrial component parts primarily to the automobile industry in the United States. It operates through Big Rapids, Romulus, Traverse City, and Novex Tool divisions. The company offers cold formed and machined pins, including piston pins, planetary and differential gear shafts, and oil pump and steering shafts for the automotive, refrigeration, and small engine industries; and cold formed machined products, such as suspension ball studs, fluid line adapters, and precision formed and machined valve lifter bodies to the automotive industry. It also provides close tolerance machined products that are used in transmission valves, ball joints, steering gear bulkhead assemblies, torque converter hubs, and piston pins; and engineered nut products comprising prevailing torque nuts, free spinning nuts, slotted nuts, nut retainer assemblies, and nut washer assemblies to the automotive industry. In addition, the company offers cold form tooling products, which include assemblies, sleeves, dies, and punches; and complex cold formed parts, such as tie rod housings, valve lifter bodies, and suspension components. Federal Screw Works was founded in 1917 and is based in Romulus, Michigan.