Financial Analysis: SUMITOMO CHEMCL (OTCMKTS:SOMMY) and Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP)

SUMITOMO CHEMCL (OTCMKTS:SOMMY) and Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares SUMITOMO CHEMCL and Compass Minerals International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SUMITOMO CHEMCL	0.35%	0.80%	0.25%
Compass Minerals International	-9.87%	-16.70%	-2.77%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SUMITOMO CHEMCL and Compass Minerals International”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SUMITOMO CHEMCL	$17.12 billion	0.31	$254.70 million	$0.17	93.71
Compass Minerals International	$1.12 billion	0.72	-$206.10 million	($2.92)	-6.62

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for SUMITOMO CHEMCL and Compass Minerals International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SUMITOMO CHEMCL	0	0	0	0	0.00
Compass Minerals International	1	2	1	0	2.00

Compass Minerals International has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.47%. Given Compass Minerals International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Compass Minerals International is more favorable than SUMITOMO CHEMCL.

Volatility & Risk

SUMITOMO CHEMCL has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Compass Minerals International has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.8% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About SUMITOMO CHEMCL

Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited engages in Chemicals & Plastics, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals, health and crop sciences, pharmaceuticals, and other businesses worldwide. Its Essential Chemicals & Plastics segment offers synthetic resins, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polymethyl methacrylate resins; raw materials for synthetic fibers; and various industrial chemicals. The company's Energy & Functional Materials segment provides alumina and aluminum products used for energy products; resorcinol for tires, wood adhesives, flame retardants, and ultraviolet ray absorbants; polymer additives and rubber chemicals; synthetic rubber for tires, shoes, construction materials, and other applications; and engineering plastics and lithium-ion secondary battery materials for use in electronic components and next-generation vehicles. Its IT-Related Chemicals segment provides polarizing films, touch screen sensor panels, and color resists and polymer OLED for LC and OLED displays; photoresists and high-purity chemicals for the semiconductor manufacturing process; and compound semiconductor materials for antenna switches and other components of communication terminal equipment. The company's Health & Crop Sciences segment offers crop protection chemicals, fertilizers, feed additives, and household insecticides; active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates; and products to control infectious diseases. Its Pharmaceuticals segment provides prescription and diagnostic pharmaceuticals. The company's Others segment supplies electric power and steam; designs, constructs, and supervises chemical plants; provides transportation and warehousing services; and conducts physical property and environmental analysis. Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc., provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products. This segment provides products for use as a deicer for roadways, consumer, and professional use; as an ingredient in chemical production; for water treatment, human, and animal nutrition; and for various other consumer and industrial uses, as well as records management services. The Plant Nutrition segment produces sulfate of potash specialty fertilizers in various grades that are used in broadcast spreaders, direct application, and liquid fertilizer solutions under the Protassium+ brand name; turf products used by the turf and ornamental markets, as well as for blends used on golf course greens; organic products; and develops and produces a portfolio of magnesium chloride-based aerial and ground fire retardant products. This segment provides its products to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in December 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.