Head to Head Survey: SIKA (OTCMKTS:SXYAY) versus American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD)

SIKA (OTCMKTS:SXYAY) and American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.0% of American Vanguard shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of American Vanguard shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares SIKA and American Vanguard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SIKA	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Vanguard	-23.72%	-26.21%	-9.97%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SIKA and American Vanguard”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SIKA	$13.36 billion	2.82	$1.41 billion	N/A	N/A
American Vanguard	$547.31 million	0.23	-$126.34 million	($4.47)	-0.97

SIKA has higher revenue and earnings than American Vanguard.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for SIKA and American Vanguard, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SIKA	1	0	1	2	3.00
American Vanguard	0	0	1	0	3.00

American Vanguard has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 175.86%. Given American Vanguard’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Vanguard is more favorable than SIKA.

Summary

SIKA beats American Vanguard on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SIKA

Sika AG, a specialty chemicals company, develops, produces, and sells systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry worldwide. The company offers tile adhesives and grouts, systems for under-tile waterproofing, sound reduction, renders, decorative finishes for exterior and interior walls, as well as exterior insulation finishing system; develops admixtures and additives for concrete, cement, and mortar production; and flat roofing systems. It also provides a range of technologies used for below and above-ground waterproofing, including flexible membrane systems, liquid-applied membranes, joint waterproofing systems, and waterproofing mortars and injection resins for commercial and residential basements, tunnels, bridges, and various types of water-retaining structures, such as reservoirs, storage basins, and storage tanks. In addition, the company offers flooring solutions, such as synthetic resin and cementitious systems for industrial and commercial buildings; and sealants, adhesives, tapes, and spray foams for the building facades, interior finishing, and infrastructure projects. Further, it provides repairing, reinforcing, and protective solutions for concrete structures, such as repair mortars, shrinking grouts, anchoring adhesives, protective coatings, corrosion control, and structural strengthening systems. The company serves automobile and commercial vehicle assembly, automotive aftermarket, marine vessel, industrial lamination, renewable energy, home appliance, and facade engineering industries. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.