Analyzing ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) and Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI)

ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) and Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares ARQ and Element Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARQ	-12.35%	-8.35%	-6.16%
Element Solutions	5.62%	13.96%	6.49%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ARQ and Element Solutions’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARQ	$99.18 million	2.66	-$12.25 million	($0.50)	-15.74
Element Solutions	$2.33 billion	2.49	$118.10 million	$0.54	44.45

Element Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than ARQ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Element Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.3% of Element Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.2% of ARQ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Element Solutions shares are owned by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

ARQ has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Element Solutions has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for ARQ and Element Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARQ	0	0	0	0	N/A
Element Solutions	0	2	4	0	2.67

Element Solutions has a consensus target price of $26.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.31%. Given Element Solutions’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Element Solutions is more favorable than ARQ.

Summary

Element Solutions beats ARQ on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. produces activated carbon products in North America. The company's products include granular activated carbon, powdered and granular activated carbon, and colloidal carbon products; Arq Powder Wetcake, a fine and low-ash coal waste-derived particle; and additives for air emissions control. Its products are used in various applications, including water treatment, ground water remediation, soil sediments, air emissions, and asphalt additives. The company was formerly known as Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Arq, Inc. in February 2024. Arq, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

About Element Solutions

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products. This segment also supplies surface mount technologies, fluxes, thermal management material, coatings, and other attachment materials; chemical formulations to the electronics industry; and advanced copper interconnects, die attachment, sintered silver material, adhesives, wafer bump processes, and photomask technologies for semiconductor industry. It primarily serves mobile communications, computers, automobiles, and aerospace equipment industries. The Industrial & Specialty segment provides industrial solutions, which include chemical systems that protect and decorate metal and plastic surfaces; consumable chemicals that enable printing image transfer on flexible packaging materials; and chemistries used in water-based hydraulic control fluids for offshore energy production applications. It serves aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, and oil and gas production end markets. The company was formerly known as Platform Specialty Products Corporation and changed its name to Element Solutions Inc in January 2019. Element Solutions Inc was founded in 1785 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.