Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH) and Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Critical Contrast

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) and Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Basf shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.0% of Tantech shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Tantech shares are held by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Basf and Tantech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Basf	1	3	4	0	2.38
Tantech	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Basf and Tantech”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Basf	$70.63 billion	0.70	$1.40 billion	$0.13	106.08
Tantech	$42.94 million	0.00	-$3.24 million	N/A	N/A

Basf has higher revenue and earnings than Tantech.

Risk and Volatility

Basf has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tantech has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Basf and Tantech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Basf	0.59%	7.17%	3.28%
Tantech	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Basf beats Tantech on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.

About Tantech

Tantech Holdings Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures bamboo-based charcoal products for industrial energy, household cooking, heating, purification, agricultural, and cleaning applications in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Consumer Products, Electric Vehicles, and Biodegradable Packaging. It provides pressed and formed charcoal briquettes for use in grills, incense burners, and other applications under the Algold brand. The company also offers Charcoal Doctor branded products, such as air purifiers and humidifiers, automotive accessories for air purification, underfloor humidity control products, pillows and mattresses, wardrobe deodorizers, mouse pads and wrist mats, refrigerator deodorants, charcoal toilet cleaner disks, liquid charcoal cleaners, shoe insoles, and decorative charcoal gifts. In addition, it provides bamboo vinegar, a liquid byproduct for use in disinfectants, detergents, lotions, specialized soaps, toilet cleaners, and fertilizers, as well as in various agricultural applications; and trades in charcoal products. Further, the company develops and sells electric buses, electric logistics cars, and specialty electric vehicles, such as brushless cleaning cars, electric cleaning cars, special emergency vehicles, and funeral cars; and solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, auto parts, and electric control systems. It is also involved in the biodegradable packaging and supply chain businesses, as well as provides commercial factoring services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Lishui, the People's Republic of China.