Head to Head Survey: Iteris (ITI) and UTStarcom (UTSI)

Iteris (NASDAQ: ITI) and UTStarcom (NASDAQ:UTSI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

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Iteris has a beta of -0.11, suggesting that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UTStarcom has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.1% of Iteris shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.5% of UTStarcom shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Iteris shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of UTStarcom shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Iteris and UTStarcom, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iteris	0	0	4	0	3.00
UTStarcom	0	0	1	0	3.00

Iteris presently has a consensus target price of $9.13, indicating a potential upside of 81.41%. UTStarcom has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.85%. Given Iteris’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Iteris is more favorable than UTStarcom.

Profitability

This table compares Iteris and UTStarcom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iteris	-3.40%	-10.29%	-6.52%
UTStarcom	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Iteris and UTStarcom’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iteris	$103.73 million	1.61	-$3.52 million	($0.04)	-125.75
UTStarcom	$98.29 million	1.47	$6.98 million	N/A	N/A

UTStarcom has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Iteris.

Summary

Iteris beats UTStarcom on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

Iteris Company Profile

Iteris, Inc. provides intelligent information solutions to traffic management and global agribusiness markets worldwide. It operates in three segments: Roadway Sensors, Transportation Systems, and Agriculture and Weather Analytics. The Roadway Sensors segment provides vehicle detection and information systems and products for traffic intersection control, incident detection, and roadway traffic data collection applications. Its products include Vantage detection system to detect vehicle presence at intersections, as well as vehicle count, speed, and other traffic data used in traffic management systems; Vantage Vector video/radar hybrid product, an vehicle detection sensor with capabilities, including stop bar detection, advanced-zone detection, and sensing; Vantage systems equipped with smartcycle capability to differentiate between bicycles and other vehicles with a single video detection camera; VersiCam, an integrated camera and processor video detection system; VantageLive!, a cloud-based subscription service; and SmartSpan, PedTrax ,Velocity, VantageLive, and P-series products. The Transportation Systems segment offers transportation engineering and consulting services with a focus on the planning, design, development, and implementation of software-based systems that integrate sensors, video surveillance systems, computers, and communications equipment to enable public agencies to monitor, control, and direct traffic flow; assist in the dispatch of emergency crews; and distribute real-time information about traffic conditions. It offers iPeMS, a specialized transportation performance measurement and traffic analytics solution. The Agriculture and Weather Analytics segment offers ClearPath Weather management tools that allow users to create solutions to meet roadway maintenance decision needs; and ClearAg, a precision agriculture solution. The company serves government agencies. Iteris, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.

UTStarcom Company Profile

UTStarcom Holdings Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a telecom infrastructure provider to develop technology for bandwidth from cloud-based services, mobile, streaming, and other applications. The company offers broadband packet optical transport and wireless/fixed-line access products and solutions. It focuses on delivering carrier-class broadband transport and access products and solutions optimized for mobile backhaul, metro aggregation, broadband access, Wi-Fi data, and value added services. The company provides optical transport products, such as packet transport network, next generation packet transport network, and SyncRing product lines that convert and translate data, video, voice, or other traffic into an optical signal that is transmitted over glass fiber; and SOO network (software-defined open packet optical) solution, which helps telecom operators to address the challenges related to the growth of mobile and cloud services, media streaming, and social networking, as well as new applications and services. It also offers carrier Wi-Fi products, such as solutions for managed wireless access networks, including wireless access controllers, VAS platforms, network management systems, and Wi-Fi access points for carrier and MSO markets, as well as various deployment scenarios; and a range of services, such as IPTV, high-speed Internet access, POTS, ISDN, VoIP, over twisted pair copper, and optical fiber. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Admiralty, Hong Kong.

Cramer: US-China trade fight 'is not serious' right now; Trump has upper hand

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday that he's not worried yet about the escalating trade conflict between the United States and China.

"Right now, this is not serious," Cramer told "Squawk on the Street." "I'm waiting for something serious to hit my way."

The "Mad Money" host said the fight would get real if Apple, Yum China or Starbucks were targeted by boycotts or some other measure.

But for now, that's not happening, Cramer said, arguing President Donald Trump has the upper hand. "The president is saying, 'You know what guys [China] ... we got more staying power than you, particularly with your stock market collapse.'"

While the Dow Jones industrial average was off more than 300 points, or about 1.3 percent, in early Tuesday trading, the carnage in China was far worse.

"There were 1,000 stocks that were down 10 percent in China. Is that good for the Chinese? Are they sitting there saying, 'Let's have a real [trade war], bring it on?' No. They're going to have to support a lot of stock. It costs them a fortune," Cramer said.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets overnight dropped 3.8 percent and 5.77 percent, respectively, after Trump late Monday asked the U.S. trade representative to identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs at a rate of 10 percent.

That would be on top of the 25 percent import tariffs on up to $50 billion of Chinese products that Trump announced Friday. Those tariffs are set to start July 6. Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration has responded with 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods.

Cramer said, "so what" to the argument that China could also start selling U.S. Treasurys as another way to get back at the U.S. "We could use a little inflection in the yield curve," he added.

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