Contrasting Suzano (NYSE:SUZ) & Rayonier Advanced Materials (NYSE:RYAM)

Rayonier Advanced Materials (NYSE:RYAM) and Suzano (NYSE:SUZ) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Rayonier Advanced Materials and Suzano, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rayonier Advanced Materials	0	0	1	0	3.00
Suzano	0	0	1	1	3.50

Rayonier Advanced Materials currently has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 45.45%. Given Rayonier Advanced Materials’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Rayonier Advanced Materials is more favorable than Suzano.

Volatility & Risk

Rayonier Advanced Materials has a beta of 2.46, suggesting that its share price is 146% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suzano has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rayonier Advanced Materials and Suzano”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rayonier Advanced Materials	$1.63 billion	0.17	-$38.71 million	($1.06)	-3.89
Suzano	$8.79 billion	1.37	-$1.31 billion	($0.14)	-65.04

Rayonier Advanced Materials has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Suzano. Suzano is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rayonier Advanced Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.6% of Rayonier Advanced Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.6% of Suzano shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Rayonier Advanced Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Rayonier Advanced Materials and Suzano’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rayonier Advanced Materials	-4.38%	-4.71%	-1.58%
Suzano	-2.43%	-3.08%	-0.75%

Summary

Suzano beats Rayonier Advanced Materials on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rayonier Advanced Materials

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. manufactures and sells cellulose specialty products in the United States, China, Latin America, Canada, Japan, Europe, Latin America, other Asian countries, and internationally. It operates through High Purity Cellulose, Paperboard, and High-Yield Pulp segments. The company’s products include cellulose specialties, which are natural polymers that are used as raw materials to manufacture a range of consumer-oriented products, such as liquid crystal displays, impact-resistant plastics, thickeners for food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cigarette filters, high-tenacity rayon yarn for tires and industrial hoses, food casings, paints, and lacquers. It also offers commodity products, such as commodity viscose pulp used in woven applications, including rayon textiles for clothing and other fabrics, as well as in non-woven applications comprising baby wipes, cosmetic and personal wipes, industrial wipes, and mattress ticking; and absorbent materials consisting of fluff fibers that are used as an absorbent medium in disposable baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence pads, convalescent bed pads, industrial towels and wipes, and non-woven fabrics. In addition, the company provides paperboards for packaging, printing documents, brochures, promotional materials, paperback books and catalog covers, file folders, tags, and lottery tickets; and high-yield pulps to produces hardwood aspen, maple, and birch species for paperboard, packaging, printing and writing papers, and various other paper products. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Suzano

Suzano S.A. produces and sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Pulp and Paper segments. The company offers coated and uncoated printing and writing papers, paperboards, tissue papers, and market and fluff pulps; and lignin. It also engages in the research, development, and production of biofuel; operation of port terminals; power generation and distribution business; commercialization of equipment and parts; industrialization, commercialization, and exporting of pulp and standing wood; road freight transport; biotechnology research and development; and commercialization of paper and computer materials. In addition, the company is involved in the business office, production packaging, and financial fundraising activities; research, development, production, commercialization, and distribution of wood-based textile fibers, yarns, and filaments produced from cellulose and microfibrillated cellulose; and research and development of wood raw materials for the textile industry. Suzano S.A. was formerly known as Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A. and changed its name to Suzano S.A. in April 2019. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Salvador, Brazil.