Critical Review: SMX (Security Matters) Public (NASDAQ:SMX) versus LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT)

LiqTech International (NASDAQ:LIQT – Get Rating) and SMX (Security Matters) Public (NASDAQ:SMX – Get Rating) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for LiqTech International and SMX (Security Matters) Public, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiqTech International	0	0	1	0	3.00
SMX (Security Matters) Public	0	0	0	0	N/A

LiqTech International presently has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 614.12%. Given LiqTech International’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe LiqTech International is more favorable than SMX (Security Matters) Public.

Volatility and Risk

LiqTech International has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SMX (Security Matters) Public has a beta of -0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 186% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares LiqTech International and SMX (Security Matters) Public’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiqTech International	-88.66%	-60.14%	-30.04%
SMX (Security Matters) Public	N/A	N/A	-6.27%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.6% of LiqTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.1% of SMX (Security Matters) Public shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.2% of LiqTech International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of SMX (Security Matters) Public shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LiqTech International and SMX (Security Matters) Public’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiqTech International	$15.98 million	1.19	-$14.17 million	($0.45)	-0.93
SMX (Security Matters) Public	N/A	N/A	-$6.18 million	N/A	N/A

SMX (Security Matters) Public has lower revenue, but higher earnings than LiqTech International.

Summary

SMX (Security Matters) Public beats LiqTech International on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiqTech International

(Get Rating)

LiqTech International, Inc. is a clean technology company, which engages in the provision of gas and liquid purification products by manufacturing ceramic silicon carbide filters. It operates through the following segments: Water, Ceramics, Plastics, and Other. The firm specializes in ceramic membranes for liquid filtration systems and diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to control soot exhaust particles from diesel engines. The company was founded by Lasse Andreassen on July 1, 2004 and is headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark.

About SMX (Security Matters) Public

(Get Rating)

Lionheart III Corp is a blank check company. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or related business combination with one or more businesses. Lionheart III Corp is based in Miami, Florida.