Head to Head Analysis: Mativ (NYSE:MATV) & Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX)

Mativ (NYSE:MATV) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.0% of Mativ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Mativ shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Mativ and Minerals Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mativ	0	0	1	1	3.50
Minerals Technologies	0	0	1	0	3.00

Mativ currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential downside of 19.35%. Minerals Technologies has a consensus price target of $84.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.18%. Given Minerals Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than Mativ.

Volatility and Risk

Mativ has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Mativ pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mativ pays out -4.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Minerals Technologies pays out 733.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mativ has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Minerals Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Mativ is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mativ and Minerals Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mativ	$1.98 billion	0.34	-$48.70 million	($8.35)	-1.49
Minerals Technologies	$2.12 billion	0.95	$167.10 million	$0.06	1,067.23

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

Profitability

This table compares Mativ and Minerals Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mativ	-23.09%	4.12%	1.16%
Minerals Technologies	0.10%	10.64%	5.34%

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Mativ on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mativ

Mativ Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials manufactures and sells various engineered polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens for the filtration, protective solutions, release liners, and healthcare end-markets. This segment sells its products directly, as well as through sales agents and distributors. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment produces packaging and specialty paper products. This segment provides premium packaging products that are used for wine, spirits and beer labels, folding cartons, box wrap, bags, hang tags, and stored value cards servicing retail, cosmetics, spirits, and electronics end-use markets; and premium papers, which are used in commercial printing services, advertising collateral, stationery, corporate identity packages and brochures, direct mail, business cards, and other uses. It also offers branded paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. This segment distributes its products through authorized paper distributors, converters, retailers, and specialty business converters, as well as directly to end-users. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.