Contrasting Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) and American Battery Technology (NASDAQ:ABAT)

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) and American Battery Technology (NASDAQ:ABAT) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Compass Minerals International and American Battery Technology’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compass Minerals International	$1.19 billion	0.46	$15.50 million	($1.46)	-9.13
American Battery Technology	N/A	N/A	-$9.29 million	N/A	N/A

Compass Minerals International has higher revenue and earnings than American Battery Technology.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.8% of Compass Minerals International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.9% of American Battery Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Compass Minerals International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of American Battery Technology 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.

Profitability

This table compares Compass Minerals International and American Battery Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Minerals International	-4.97%	4.56%	1.28%
American Battery Technology	N/A	-36.74%	-29.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Compass Minerals International and American Battery Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Minerals International	0	4	1	0	2.20
American Battery Technology	0	0	1	0	3.00

Compass Minerals International presently has a consensus price target of $34.40, suggesting a potential upside of 158.06%. American Battery Technology has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 319.58%. Given American Battery Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Battery Technology is more favorable than Compass Minerals International.

Summary

Compass Minerals International beats American Battery Technology on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc., provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products. This segment provides products for use as a deicer for roadways, consumer, and professional use; as an ingredient in chemical production; for water treatment, human, and animal nutrition; and for various other consumer and industrial uses, as well as records management services. The Plant Nutrition segment produces sulfate of potash specialty fertilizers in various grades that are used in broadcast spreaders, direct application, and liquid fertilizer solutions under the Protassium+ brand name; turf products used by the turf and ornamental markets, as well as for blends used on golf course greens; organic products; and develops and produces a portfolio of magnesium chloride-based aerial and ground fire retardant products. This segment provides its products to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in December 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

About American Battery Technology

American Battery Technology Company operates as a battery materials company. The company explores for resources of battery metals, such as such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese; and develops and commercializes technologies for the extraction of battery metals, as well as commercializes integrated process for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. The company was formerly known as American Battery Metals Corporation. American Battery Technology Company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.