Cognex Corporation (CGNX) vs Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST)

Cognex Corporation and Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. Cognex Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $9.4B against $6.0B — 1.6× the size. Cognex Corporation trades at the lower P/E: 51.5× against 66.5×. Cognex Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 17.2% against 0.80%. Cognex Corporation has the higher net margin (16.1% vs 2.38%) and the higher return on invested capital (12.2% vs 3.55%). Both pay a dividend; Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. yields more (1.18% vs 0.63%). Across the 23 metrics below, Cognex Corporation leads on 16 and Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. on 7.

Valuation

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 51.53 66.52 33.25
P/S 8.32 1.56 4.50
P/B 5.56 1.99 2.90
Price to free cash flow 34.23 10.19 24.81
EV/EBITDA 32.44 10.54 17.92
EV/Sales 7.94 2.10 4.71
Earnings yield 1.94% 1.50% 0.60%
Free cash flow yield 2.92% 9.81% 1.27%

Profitability

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 68.87% 29.50% 45.75%
Operating margin 21.90% 7.53% 7.34%
Net margin 16.05% 2.38% 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 25.25% 15.34% 5.84%
Return on equity 11.15% 3.08% 2.87%
Return on assets 8.36% 1.30% 0.99%
Return on invested capital 12.16% 3.55% 3.88%

Growth

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) 17.15% 0.80% 11.15%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 9.68% (75.29%) 11.47%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 4.16% 3.99% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (8.27%) (28.22%) 0.00%

Health

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.83 0.00
Current ratio 3.93 2.29 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (1.75) 3.14 0.44

Dividend

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield 0.63% 1.18% 0.58%
Payout ratio 0.33 0.80 0.36

Size

Metric CGNX ST Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 9.37b 6.01b 444.25m

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