Nippon Paint (OTCMKTS:NPCPF) and Absolute Software (OTCMKTS:ALSWF) Critical Survey

Nippon Paint (OTCMKTS:NPCPF) and Absolute Software (OTCMKTS:ALSWF) are both construction companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Nippon Paint and Absolute Software, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nippon Paint	0	0	0	0	N/A
Absolute Software	0	0	0	0	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nippon Paint and Absolute Software’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nippon Paint	$10.29 billion	0.89	$841.18 million	$0.36	10.78
Absolute Software	$104.67 million	0.00	$10.64 million	N/A	N/A

Nippon Paint has higher revenue and earnings than Absolute Software.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.2% of Absolute Software shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Nippon Paint pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 113.4%. Absolute Software pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share. Nippon Paint pays out 1,222.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Nippon Paint and Absolute Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nippon Paint	8.23%	8.85%	4.42%
Absolute Software	10.16%	-23.28%	9.44%

Risk and Volatility

Nippon Paint has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Absolute Software has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Absolute Software beats Nippon Paint on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nippon Paint

Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. engages in the paints and fine chemicals businesses. The company offers automotive coatings, including paints for the automotive body, including surface treatment, electrodeposition coating, intermediate coating, and finish coating; paints for plastic components, such as bumpers and interior components; trade-use paints for construction sites, including single-family detached homes, buildings, and bridges; and industrial coatings that are used in a range of products, including construction and farming machinery, exterior construction materials, office equipment, and electric home appliances. It also provides marine coatings, such as antifouling paints; treatment agents for steel and aluminum products; and paints for DIY applications comprising wallpaper, wall cloth, and wooden, steel, and concrete materials. In addition, the company offers surface treatment products comprising functional coatings, which demonstrate various functions, such as hydrophilicity and rust prevention, and substrate films; caulking agents to fill gaps between building materials; adhesives to fix flooring and building materials; and fillers used for base coatings. Further, it is involved in the investment business; manufactures and sells surface treatment agents; and sales of paints and raw materials. The company has operations in Japan, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Nippon Paint Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. in October 2014. Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Absolute Software

Absolute Software Corp. engages in the provision of cloud-based service that supports the management and security of computing devices, applications, and data for a variety of organizations. Its solutions includes education, financial services, general date protection regulations (GDPR) compliance, government, healthcare, professional services, and technology solutions such as Absolute for Android, and Absolute for Chromebook. The company was founded on November 24, 1993 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.