Comparing NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC) & LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH)

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) and NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares LightPath Technologies and NVE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightPath Technologies	-25.86%	-26.51%	-16.55%
NVE	58.88%	24.62%	24.15%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.3% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.0% of NVE shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of NVE shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LightPath Technologies and NVE”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightPath Technologies	$31.73 million	2.79	-$8.01 million	($0.22)	-10.14
NVE	$29.80 million	12.65	$17.12 million	$3.34	23.36

NVE has lower revenue, but higher earnings than LightPath Technologies. LightPath Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NVE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

LightPath Technologies has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NVE has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for LightPath Technologies and NVE, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightPath Technologies	0	0	2	0	3.00
NVE	0	0	0	0	0.00

LightPath Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 34.53%. Given LightPath Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe LightPath Technologies is more favorable than NVE.

Summary

NVE beats LightPath Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LightPath Technologies

LightPath Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes optical components and assemblies. The company offers precision molded glass aspheric optics, molded and diamond-turned infrared aspheric lenses, and other optical components used to produce products that manipulate light; and infrared products, including catalog and custom infrared optics. Its products are used in defense products, medical devices, laser aided industrial tools, automotive safety applications, barcode scanners, optical data storage, hybrid fiber coax datacom, telecommunications, machine vision and sensors, and other sectors. The company sells its products directly to customers in Europe and Asia. LightPath Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

About NVE

NVE Corporation develops and sells devices that use spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin to acquire, store, and transmit information in the United States and internationally. The company manufactures spintronic products, including sensors and couplers for use in acquiring and transmitting data. Its products comprise standard sensors to detect the presence of a magnetic or metallic material to determine position, rotation, or speed for the factory automation market; and custom and medical sensors for medical devices to replace electromechanical magnetic switches. The company also offers spintronic couplers for power conversion and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market; and DC-to-DC convertors for use in power conversion systems and industrial networks for the IIoT. In addition, it undertakes contracts for research and development, and licensing of spintronic magnetoresistive random access memory technology. NVE Corporation was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.