Head to Head Review: Oil-Dri Corporation Of America (NYSE:ODC) & Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY)

Oil-Dri Corporation Of America (NYSE:ODC) and Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.0% of Oil-Dri Corporation Of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Basf shares are held by institutional investors. 11.7% of Oil-Dri Corporation Of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Oil-Dri Corporation Of America pays an annual dividend of $0.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Basf pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Oil-Dri Corporation Of America pays out 21.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Basf pays out 81.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Oil-Dri Corporation Of America has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Oil-Dri Corporation Of America has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Basf has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Oil-Dri Corporation Of America and Basf’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oil-Dri Corporation Of America	11.35%	20.53%	14.17%
Basf	2.91%	3.90%	1.72%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Oil-Dri Corporation Of America and Basf”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oil-Dri Corporation Of America	$485.57 million	2.85	$54.00 million	$3.89	24.53
Basf	$67.48 billion	0.76	$1.83 billion	$0.58	24.76

Basf has higher revenue and earnings than Oil-Dri Corporation Of America. Oil-Dri Corporation Of America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Basf, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Oil-Dri Corporation Of America and Basf, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oil-Dri Corporation Of America	0	0	1	0	3.00
Basf	1	3	4	1	2.56

Summary

Oil-Dri Corporation Of America beats Basf on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oil-Dri Corporation Of America

Oil-Dri Corporation of America is a manufacturer and supplier of specialty sorbent products for the pet care, animal health and nutrition, fluids purification, agricultural ingredients, sports field, industrial and automotive markets. It operates through the Business to Business Products Group and Retail and Wholesale Products Group segments. The Business to Business Products Group segment’s customers include processors and refiners of edible oils, jet fuel and biofuel, manufacturers of animal feed and agricultural chemicals, distributors of animal health and nutrition products, and marketers of consumer products. The Retail and Wholesale Products Group segment customers include retailers of cat litter and related accessories such as mass merchandisers, drugstore chains, pet specialty retail outlets, dollar stores, retail grocery stores as well as distributors of industrial cleanup and automotive products, environmental service companies, and sports field product users. The company was founded by Nick Jaffee in 1941 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.