Contrasting Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) and PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG)

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) and Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for PPG Industries and Ecovyst, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PPG Industries	0	8	6	1	2.53
Ecovyst	0	0	3	0	3.00

PPG Industries presently has a consensus target price of $129.82, indicating a potential upside of 18.58%. Ecovyst has a consensus target price of $11.67, indicating a potential upside of 27.09%. Given Ecovyst’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ecovyst is more favorable than PPG Industries.

Profitability

This table compares PPG Industries and Ecovyst’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PPG Industries	6.25%	23.85%	8.40%
Ecovyst	-1.91%	7.69%	3.00%

Volatility and Risk

PPG Industries has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecovyst has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares PPG Industries and Ecovyst”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PPG Industries	$15.85 billion	1.56	$1.12 billion	$4.41	24.82
Ecovyst	$704.50 million	1.49	-$6.65 million	($0.12)	-76.50

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.9% of PPG Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Ecovyst shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of PPG Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Ecovyst shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PPG Industries beats Ecovyst on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc. manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft. The Industrial Coatings segment offers coatings, adhesives and sealants, and metal pretreatments, as well as services and coatings applications for appliances, agricultural and construction equipment, consumer electronics, automotive parts and accessories, building products, kitchenware, and transportation vehicles and other finished products; and on-site coatings services. It also provides coatings for metal cans, closures, plastic and aluminum tubes for food, beverage and personal care, promotional, and specialty packaging; amorphous precipitated silica for tire, battery separator, and other end-uses; TESLIN substrates for labels, e-passports, drivers' licenses, breathable membranes, and loyalty and identification cards; and organic light emitting diode materials, displays and lighting lens materials, optical lenses, color-change products, and photochromic dyes. PPG Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1883 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Ecovyst

Ecovyst Inc. offers specialty catalysts and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts. The Ecoservices segment provides sulfuric acid recycling services and end-to-end logistics for production of alkylate for refineries; and virgin sulfuric acid for mining, water treatment, and industrial applications. The Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment offers advanced materials and specialty catalyst products and process solutions to producers and licensors of polyethylene and advanced silicas. This segment also supplies specialty zeolites and zeolite-based catalysts to customers for refining of oil primarily hydrocracking catalyst and dewaxing, sustainable fuels, and emission control systems for both on-road and non-road diesel engines. The company was formerly known as PQ Group Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ecovyst Inc. in August 2021. Ecovyst Inc. was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.