Analyzing Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI)

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 158.7%. Johnson Matthey pays an annual dividend of $1.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Standard Lithium pays out 339.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Standard Lithium and Johnson Matthey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.59	2.14
Johnson Matthey	$16.14 billion	0.16	$135.76 million	N/A	N/A

Johnson Matthey has higher revenue and earnings than Standard Lithium.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Standard Lithium and Johnson Matthey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standard Lithium	0	0	2	0	3.00
Johnson Matthey	0	0	0	0	0.00

Standard Lithium currently has a consensus target price of $3.95, suggesting a potential upside of 213.49%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Johnson Matthey.

Profitability

This table compares Standard Lithium and Johnson Matthey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standard Lithium	N/A	-11.52%	-10.25%
Johnson Matthey	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Johnson Matthey has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Standard Lithium beats Johnson Matthey on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Johnson Matthey

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, they improve the function, performance and safety of their customers’ products. Their science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with their network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.