Head to Head Review: FMC (NYSE:FMC) vs. Clariant (OTCMKTS:CLZNF)

Clariant (OTCMKTS:CLZNF) and FMC (NYSE:FMC) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

31.2% of Clariant shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.9% of FMC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of FMC shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Clariant and FMC”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clariant	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.47	21.88
FMC	$3.25 billion	0.41	-$2.24 billion	($22.00)	-0.49

Clariant has higher earnings, but lower revenue than FMC. FMC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Clariant, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Clariant and FMC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clariant	N/A	N/A	N/A
FMC	-84.83%	11.35%	2.65%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Clariant and FMC, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clariant	0	0	0	0	0.00
FMC	3	8	3	0	2.00

FMC has a consensus price target of $14.25, suggesting a potential upside of 33.40%. Given FMC’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe FMC is more favorable than Clariant.

Summary

FMC beats Clariant on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clariant

Clariant AG engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of specialty chemicals worldwide. The Care Chemicals segment offers specialty chemicals and application solutions for various applications in automotive fluids, aviation, construction chemicals, crop solutions, health care, home care, industrial lubricants, paints and coatings, personal care, and special solvents. The Catalysis segment provides catalyst products for use as ammonia cracking, ammonia, custom catalysts, ethylene and derivatives, fischer-tropsch, fuel cell, fuel upgrading, gas processing, hydrogen, hydrogenation, liquid hydrogen carrier, low-carbon ammonia, low-carbon methanol, methanol, methanol-to-propylene, off-gas treatment, olefins purification, on-purpose propylene, oxidation, polypropylene, refinery stream purification, styrene, zeolite powders, biocatalysis, cellulosic ethanol, cellulosic sugars, low-carbon advanced biofuels, and residue-derived biochemical intermediates. The Adsorbents and Additives segment provides chemicals for oil, gas, mining, and refinery industries; services for oil and gas industries; emulsifiers for explosives, as well as cold-flow additive applications for middle distillates in refineries; mineral-based specialty products for bio- and renewable fuel purification, BTX catalysts, cargo and device protection, cat litter, chemical recycling, civil engineering, clay specialties, detergent additives, edible oil purification, feed additives, foundry additives, kerosene and jet fuel purification, paper additives, PVC stabilizers, and wastewater treatment applications; and flame retardants, performance additives, and advanced surface solutions for use in acid scavengers, antioxidiants, antistatic agents, halogen-free flame retardants, heat stabilizers, hot-melt adhesives, light stabilizers, lubricants, processing aids, processing stabilizers, release agents, slip control agents, and surface modifiers. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Muttenz, Switzerland.

About FMC

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control. The company markets its products through its own sales organization and through alliance partners, independent distributors, and sales representatives. It operates in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.