Head-To-Head Review: Perimeter Solutions (NYSE:PRM) and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

Perimeter Solutions (NYSE:PRM) and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Perimeter Solutions has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecolab has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Perimeter Solutions and Ecolab”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perimeter Solutions	$560.97 million	4.87	-$5.91 million	$0.43	43.40
Ecolab	$15.74 billion	5.05	$2.11 billion	$7.49	37.45

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Perimeter Solutions and Ecolab, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perimeter Solutions	0	0	2	0	3.00
Ecolab	0	4	11	3	2.94

Perimeter Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $18.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.86%. Ecolab has a consensus target price of $291.2143, suggesting a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Ecolab’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ecolab is more favorable than Perimeter Solutions.

Profitability

This table compares Perimeter Solutions and Ecolab’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perimeter Solutions	13.05%	-1.11%	-0.52%
Ecolab	13.59%	22.52%	8.86%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.9% of Perimeter Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of Ecolab shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.0% of Perimeter Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ecolab shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ecolab beats Perimeter Solutions on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perimeter Solutions

Perimeter Solutions, SA manufactures and supplies firefighting products and lubricant additives in the United States, Germany, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Fire Safety and Specialty Products. The Fire Safety segment provides fire retardants and firefighting foams, as well as specialized equipment and services for federal, state, provincial, local/municipal, and commercial customers. The Specialty Products segment produces and sells Phosphorus Pentasulfide, which is primarily used in the preparation of lubricant additives, including a family of compounds called Zinc Dialkyldithiophosphates. The company offers its products under the PHOS-CHEK, FIRE-TROL, AUXQUIMIA, and SOLBERG brands. Perimeter Solutions, SA was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries. Its Global Institutional & Specialty segment provides specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the foodservice, hospitality, lodging, government and education, and retail industries. The Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segment offers specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the healthcare, personal care, and pharmaceutical industries, such as infection prevention and surgical solutions, and end-to-end cleaning and contamination control solutions under the Ecolab, Microtek, and Anios brand names. In addition, the company provides pest elimination services to detect, eliminate, and prevent pests, such as rodents and insects in restaurants, food and beverage processors, hotels, grocery operations, and other commercial segments including education, life sciences, and healthcare customers. Further, it offers colloidal silica for binding and polishing applications in semiconductor, catalyst, and aerospace component manufacturing, as well as chemical industries; and products and services that manage wash process through custom designed programs, premium products, dispensing equipment, water and energy management, and reduction, as well as real time data management. It sells its products through field sales and corporate account personnel, distributors, and dealers. Ecolab Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.