American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD – Get Free Report) and Nissan Chemical (OTCMKTS:NNCHY – Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.
Volatility and Risk
American Vanguard has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nissan Chemical has a beta of -0.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for American Vanguard and Nissan Chemical, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Vanguard | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Nissan Chemical | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Vanguard and Nissan Chemical”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Vanguard | $515.11 million | 0.15 | -$49.88 million | ($1.59) | -1.68 |
| Nissan Chemical | $1.65 billion | 3.83 | $284.08 million | $2.29 | 20.50 |
Nissan Chemical has higher revenue and earnings than American Vanguard. American Vanguard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nissan Chemical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares American Vanguard and Nissan Chemical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Vanguard | -8.71% | -4.13% | -1.34% |
| Nissan Chemical | 17.07% | 19.08% | 13.77% |
Summary
Nissan Chemical beats American Vanguard on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
About Nissan Chemical
Nissan Chemical Corporation engages in the chemicals, performance materials, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals businesses in Japan and internationally. The company provides high purity chemicals; AdBlue, an urea solution; ammonia, sulfuric, and nitric acid, as well as concrete and civil engineering-related products; TEPIC, an epoxy compound; Melamine Cyanurate, a salt of melamine and iso cyanuric acid; TEPIC-VL, a liquid epoxy compound; TEPIC-FL, a liquid epoxy material; FOLDI-E101, an epoxy reactive diluent; Ecopromote, a nucleating agents for PLA; Nissan Reishi, a health food; phenylphosphonic acid; HI-LITE, a chlorinated isocyanulate; OPTBEADS, a melamine-formaldehyde resin and silica; and FINEOXOCOL, a saturated fatty alcohol and acid. It also offers performance materials comprising display, semiconductor, and inorganic materials; agricultural chemicals, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. for use on agricultural land, as well as in golf courses and parks; and drug substances for antiparasite drugs for animals. In addition, the company provides pharmaceutical products, such as LIVALO, a antihypercholesterolemic agent; LANDEL and FINTE, a long-acting calcium channel blocker; APIs and intermediaries; and manufacturing and process researching services for pharmaceutical ingredients. Further, it develops healthcare, information and communication materials, and environmental and energy materials. The company was formerly known as Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. and changed its name to Nissan Chemical Corporation in July 2018. Nissan Chemical Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
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