Reviewing Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) & Croda International (OTCMKTS:COIHY)

Croda International (OTCMKTS:COIHY) and Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Croda International pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Balchem pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Balchem pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Balchem has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Croda International and Balchem’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Croda International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Balchem	14.16%	12.01%	8.77%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Croda International and Balchem, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Croda International	2	2	0	2	2.33
Balchem	0	1	1	0	2.50

Balchem has a consensus target price of $180.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.61%. Given Balchem’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Balchem is more favorable than Croda International.

Volatility and Risk

Croda International has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Balchem has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Croda International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Balchem shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Balchem shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Croda International and Balchem”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Croda International	$2.08 billion	2.71	$202.55 million	N/A	N/A
Balchem	$953.68 million	5.42	$128.48 million	$4.17	38.00

Croda International has higher revenue and earnings than Balchem.

Summary

Balchem beats Croda International on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Croda International

Croda International Plc engages in the consumer care, life science, and industrial specialty businesses in in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia, and Latin America. The company offers speciality and active ingredients across beauty care, beauty actives, and home care products, as well as fragrances and flavours. It also provides biologics drug delivery, adjuvant systems, small molecule, protein, and nucleic acid delivery platforms, as well as purity materials for pharmaceutical formulations. In addition, the company offers crop protection and seed enhancement related solutions. Croda International Plc was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Goole, the United Kingdom.

About Balchem

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty performance ingredients and products for the nutritional, food, pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device sterilization, plant nutrition, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products. The Human Nutrition & Health segment supplies ingredients in the food and beverage industry. Its products include spray dried and emulsified powders, extrusion and agglomeration, blended lipid systems, liquid flavor delivery systems, juice and dairy bases, chocolate systems, and cereal systems, as well as ice cream bases and variegates. This segment also offers specialty vitamin K2; microencapsulation solutions for various applications; and human grade choline nutrients and mineral amino acid chelated products for nutrition and health applications. The Animal Nutrition & Health segment provides microencapsulated products to enhance health and milk production, and delivering nutrient supplements in ruminant animals; chelation technology, which offers enhanced nutrient absorption for various species of production and companion animals; methylsulfonylmethane; and choline chloride, a nutrient for monogastric animal health. The Specialty Products segment distributes ethylene oxide and ammonia primarily for use in the health care industry; and single use canisters for sterilizing re-usable devices. This segment also markets and sells propylene oxide, a fumigant to aid in the control of insects and microbiological spoilage, as well as to reduce bacterial and mold contamination in shell and processed nut meats, processed spices, cacao beans, cocoa powder, raisins, figs, and prunes; and chelated minerals for high value crops. It sells its products through sales force, independent distributors, and sales agents. The company was incorporated in 1967 and is headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey.