Head-To-Head Survey: Cabot (NYSE:CBT) & Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU)

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) and Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Cabot has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lsb Industries has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cabot and Lsb Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cabot	$3.99 billion	1.01	$380.00 million	$7.65	9.88
Lsb Industries	$522.40 million	1.11	-$19.35 million	($0.46)	-17.55

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Cabot and Lsb Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cabot	1	1	1	0	2.00
Lsb Industries	0	1	2	0	2.67

Cabot currently has a consensus price target of $92.33, indicating a potential upside of 22.21%. Lsb Industries has a consensus price target of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 20.79%. Given Cabot’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cabot is more favorable than Lsb Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Cabot and Lsb Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cabot	11.14%	25.68%	10.92%
Lsb Industries	-6.15%	-0.34%	-0.14%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.2% of Cabot shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.7% of Lsb Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Cabot shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Lsb Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Cabot beats Lsb Industries on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cabot

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions. The company also provides specialty carbons for use in inks, coatings, plastics, adhesives, toners, batteries, and displays; conductive additives and fumed alumina used in lead acid and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles; fumed silica used in adhesives, sealants, cosmetics, batteries, inks, toners, silicone elastomers, coatings, polishing slurries, and pharmaceuticals; and fumed alumina for use in various products, including inkjet media, lighting, coatings, cosmetics, and polishing slurries. In addition, it offers aerogel, a hydrophobic, silica-based particle to use in various thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications; masterbatch and conductive compound products that are used in automotive, industrial, packaging, infrastructure, agriculture, consumer products, and electronics industries; and inkjet colorants for inkjet printing applications. The company sells its products through distributors and sales representatives in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Cabot Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Lsb Industries

LSB Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of chemical products. The company provides nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as ammonia, fertilizer grade high density ammonium nitrate (HDAN), and urea ammonia nitrate for fertilizer for corn, pastures, and other crops, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer blends application. It also offers high purity and commercial grade ammonia, high purity ammonium nitrate, sulfuric acids, mixed nitrating acids, carbon dioxide, and diesel exhaust fluids, as well as concentrated, and blended and regular nitric acids for various applications, including semiconductor, nylon, and polyurethane intermediates, ammonium nitrate, and metal processing; chemical feedstocks, emissions abatement, water treatments, and refrigerants; pulp and paper, aluminum, water treatment, metals, and vanadium processing; abatement for diesel vehicles; and food refrigeration, dry ice, and enhanced oil recovery. In addition, the company provides industrial grade and low density ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate for explosives mining, quarries, and other blasting activities. It sells its products through distributors, as well as directly to end customers in the United States and other parts of North America. The company serves to the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. LSB Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.