Comparing Nikon (OTCMKTS:NINOY) & Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT)

Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) and Nikon (OTCMKTS:NINOY) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Dividends

Johnson Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Nikon pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Johnson Outdoors pays out 280.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Nikon pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Johnson Outdoors has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Johnson Outdoors is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Johnson Outdoors has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nikon has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

64.1% of Johnson Outdoors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Nikon shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.7% of Johnson Outdoors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Johnson Outdoors and Nikon, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Johnson Outdoors	0	0	0	0	N/A
Nikon	0	0	0	0	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Johnson Outdoors and Nikon’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Johnson Outdoors	$583.32 million	0.63	$19.53 million	$0.47	76.49
Nikon	$4.97 billion	0.74	$224.73 million	$0.64	16.67

Nikon has higher revenue and earnings than Johnson Outdoors. Nikon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Johnson Outdoors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Johnson Outdoors and Nikon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Johnson Outdoors	0.82%	0.97%	0.71%
Nikon	4.49%	4.85%	2.87%

Summary

Nikon beats Johnson Outdoors on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets seasonal and outdoor recreational products for fishing worldwide. It operates through four segments: Fishing, Camping, Watercraft Recreation, and Diving. The Fishing segment offers electric motors for trolling, marine battery chargers, and shallow water anchors; sonar and GPS equipment for fish finding, navigation, and marine cartography; and downriggers for controlled-depth fishing. This segment sells its products under the Minn Kota, Humminbird, and Cannon brands through outdoor specialty and Internet retailers, retail store chains, original equipment manufacturers, and distributors. The Camping segment provides consumer, commercial, and military tents and accessories; camping stoves; other recreational camping products; and portable outdoor cooking systems. This segment sells its products under the Eureka! and Jetboil brands through specialty stores, sporting goods stores, internet retailers, and direct to consumers. The Watercraft Recreation segment offers kayaks, canoes, and paddles for family recreation, touring, angling, and tripping through independent specialty and outdoor retailers under Old Town and Carlisle brands. The Diving segment manufactures and markets underwater diving and snorkeling equipment, such as regulators, buoyancy compensators, dive computers and gauges, wetsuits, masks, fins, snorkels, and accessories through independent specialty dive stores and diving magazines under the SCUBAPRO brand name. This segment also provides regular maintenance, product repair, diving education, and travel program services; and sells diving gear to dive training centers, resorts, and public safety units. It sells its products through websites. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin.

About Nikon

Nikon Corporation manufactures and sells optical instruments in Japan, North America, Europe, China, Thailand, and internationally. It operates through Imaging Products Business, Precision Equipment Business, Healthcare Business, Components Business, and Industrial equipment and Others segments. The Imaging Products Business segment provides digital SLR cameras, compact digital cameras, and interchangeable camera lenses. The Precision Equipment Business segment offers FPD lithography systems and semiconductor lithography systems. The Healthcare Business segment provides biological microscopes, cell culture observation systems, and ultra-wide field retinal imaging devices, as well as products and services related to the contract cell development and manufacturing field. The Components Business segment offers optical components, optical parts, encoders, and material processing products and services; EUV-related components and space-related solutions; and photomask substrates for FPDs. The Industrial equipment and Others segment provides industrial microscopes, non-contact 3D metrology systems, measuring instruments, X-ray/CT inspection systems, and surveying instruments. In addition, it sells used equipment; provides maintenance services for FPD/semiconductor lithography systems; sells and services cameras, microscopes, measuring instruments, and X-ray inspection equipment; and develops and supports computer software. Further, the company is involved in the procurement, logistics, and welfare activities; development, manufacturing, and testing services for eyeglass and lenses; and assembly of camera units. Nikon Corporation was incorporated in 1917 and is headquartered in Minato, Japan.