Cognex Corporation (CGNX) vs Itron, Inc. (ITRI)

Cognex Corporation and Itron, Inc. are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. Cognex Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $9.4B against $3.7B — 2.5× the size. Itron, Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 13.6× against 51.5×. Cognex Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 17.2% against −5.69%. Cognex Corporation has the higher net margin (16.1% vs 11.9%) and the higher return on invested capital (12.2% vs 7.70%). Across the 22 metrics below, Cognex Corporation leads on 11 and Itron, Inc. on 11.

Valuation

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 51.53 13.64 33.25
P/S 8.32 1.59 4.50
P/B 5.56 2.24 2.90
Price to free cash flow 34.23 9.50 24.81
EV/EBITDA 32.44 13.24 17.92
EV/Sales 7.94 2.15 4.71
Earnings yield 1.94% 7.33% 0.60%
Free cash flow yield 2.92% 10.52% 1.27%

Profitability

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 68.87% 39.87% 45.75%
Operating margin 21.90% 13.20% 7.34%
Net margin 16.05% 11.90% 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 25.25% 16.73% 5.84%
Return on equity 11.15% 16.74% 2.87%
Return on assets 8.36% 7.19% 0.99%
Return on invested capital 12.16% 7.70% 3.88%

Growth

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) 17.15% (5.69%) 11.15%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% 25.48% 11.47%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.16% 1.72% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (8.27%) 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.96 0.00
Current ratio 3.93 2.75 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (1.75) 0.62 0.44

Dividend

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield 0.63% — 0.58%
Payout ratio 0.33 — 0.36

Size

Metric CGNX ITRI Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 9.37b 3.71b 444.25m

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