Contrasting Elementis (OTCMKTS:ELMTY) & Orion (NYSE:OEC)

Elementis (OTCMKTS:ELMTY) and Orion (NYSE:OEC) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Elementis and Orion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elementis	N/A	N/A	N/A
Orion	-3.88%	6.52%	1.42%

Dividends

Elementis pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Orion pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Orion pays out -6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk and Volatility

Elementis has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Elementis and Orion, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elementis	0	0	0	0	0.00
Orion	3	2	0	0	1.40

Orion has a consensus price target of $5.75, suggesting a potential downside of 21.31%. Given Orion’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Orion is more favorable than Elementis.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.3% of Orion shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Orion shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Elementis and Orion”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elementis	$597.50 million	1.93	-$45.50 million	N/A	N/A
Orion	$1.81 billion	0.23	-$70.10 million	($1.26)	-5.80

Elementis has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Orion.

Summary

Orion beats Elementis on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Elementis

Elementis plc operates as a specialty chemical company in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Specialties and Personal Care. The Performance Specialties segment engages in the production of rheological modifiers and additives for decorative and industrial coatings; and production and supply of talc for use in plastics, coatings, technical ceramics, and paper sectors. The Personal Care segment provides rheological modifiers and compounded products, including active ingredients for antiperspirants (AP) deodorants for personal care manufacturers. The company offers personal care products for antiperspirants, color cosmetics, and skin care applications; and performance specialties products for architectural coatings, adhesives, sealants and construction additives, and talc applications. Elementis plc was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Orion

Orion S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings. It also provides rubber carbon black products for applications in mechanical rubber goods, as well as in tires under the ECORAX brand name; and acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. It operates in the United States, Brazil, rest of the Americas, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France, Rest of EMEA, China, the Republic of Korea, and rest of Asia. The company was formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. and changed its name to Orion S.A. in June 2023. Orion S.A. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg.