Cognex Corporation (CGNX) vs ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESE)

Cognex Corporation and ESCO Technologies Inc. are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. Cognex Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $9.4B against $7.8B — 1.2× the size. ESCO Technologies Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 20.5× against 51.5×. ESCO Technologies Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 34.3% against 17.2%. ESCO Technologies Inc. has the higher net margin (24.4% vs 16.1%) and the lower return on invested capital (7.76% vs 12.2%). Both pay a dividend; Cognex Corporation yields more (0.63% vs 0.13%). Across the 23 metrics below, ESCO Technologies Inc. leads on 15 and Cognex Corporation on 8.

Valuation

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 51.53 20.52 33.25
P/S 8.32 5.00 4.50
P/B 5.56 3.99 2.90
Price to free cash flow 34.23 32.83 24.81
EV/EBITDA 32.44 20.94 17.92
EV/Sales 7.94 5.01 4.71
Earnings yield 1.94% 4.87% 0.60%
Free cash flow yield 2.92% 3.05% 1.27%

Profitability

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 68.87% 42.01% 45.75%
Operating margin 21.90% 15.66% 7.34%
Net margin 16.05% 24.39% 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 25.25% 15.23% 5.84%
Return on equity 11.15% 21.39% 2.87%
Return on assets 8.36% 12.73% 0.99%
Return on invested capital 12.16% 7.76% 3.88%

Growth

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) 17.15% 34.33% 11.15%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% 193.15% 11.47%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.16% 8.44% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (8.27%) 24.66% 0.00%

Health

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.05 0.00
Current ratio 3.93 1.38 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (1.75) 0.34 0.44

Dividend

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield 0.63% 0.13% 0.58%
Payout ratio 0.33 0.03 0.36

Size

Metric CGNX ESE Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 9.37b 7.83b 444.25m

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