Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Free Report) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Air Products and Chemicals and ARQ, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Air Products and Chemicals | 0 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 2.67 |
| ARQ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus target price of $334.69, suggesting a potential upside of 19.17%. ARQ has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 143.90%. Given ARQ’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARQ is more favorable than Air Products and Chemicals.
Volatility and Risk
Profitability
This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Air Products and Chemicals | -0.38% | 16.87% | 7.18% |
| ARQ | -42.33% | -2.54% | -1.88% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and ARQ”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Air Products and Chemicals | $12.04 billion | 5.20 | -$394.50 million | ($0.22) | -1,276.56 |
| ARQ | $120.34 million | 0.74 | -$52.61 million | ($1.26) | -1.63 |
ARQ has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Air Products and Chemicals. Air Products and Chemicals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ARQ, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
81.7% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of ARQ shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Air Products and Chemicals beats ARQ on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Air Products and Chemicals
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals. It also designs and manufactures equipment for air separation, hydrocarbon recovery and purification, natural gas liquefaction, and liquid helium and liquid hydrogen transport and storage. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
About ARQ
Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
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