Head to Head Survey: Chemours (NYSE:CC) and Avient (NYSE:AVNT)

Chemours (NYSE:CC) and Avient (NYSE:AVNT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and risk.

Dividends

Chemours pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Avient pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Chemours pays out -15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avient pays out 89.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Avient has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Avient is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

76.3% of Chemours shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Avient shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Chemours shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Avient shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Chemours and Avient, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemours	2	3	5	0	2.30
Avient	1	4	4	1	2.50

Chemours presently has a consensus target price of $17.50, suggesting a potential upside of 36.83%. Avient has a consensus target price of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 38.93%. Given Avient’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Avient is more favorable than Chemours.

Volatility & Risk

Chemours has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avient has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Chemours and Avient’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemours	-5.70%	35.27%	2.03%
Avient	3.65%	10.57%	4.17%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chemours and Avient”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemours	$5.78 billion	0.33	$86.00 million	($2.22)	-5.76
Avient	$3.25 billion	0.86	$169.50 million	$1.23	24.87

Avient has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Chemours. Chemours is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Avient, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Avient beats Chemours on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chemours

The Chemours Company provides performance chemicals in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials. The Titanium Technologies segment provides TiO2 pigment under the Ti-Pure brand for delivering whiteness, brightness, opacity, durability, efficiency, and protection in various of applications, such as architectural and industrial coatings, flexible and rigid plastic packaging, polyvinylchloride, laminate papers used for furniture and building materials, coated paper, and coated paperboard used for packaging. The Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment offers of refrigerants, thermal management solutions, propellants, foam blowing agents, and specialty solvents. The Advanced Performance Materials segment products portfolio includes various industrial resins, specialty products, membranes, and coatings for electronics, communications, transportation, wire and cable, energy, oil and gas, and medical, and other applications under the eflon, Viton, Krytox, and Nafion brands. The company sells its products through direct and indirect channels, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The Chemours Company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Avient

Avient Corporation operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Color, Additives and Inks; and Specialty Engineered Materials. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, and specialty inks; custom-formulated liquid system, such as polyester, vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane, and silicone; and proprietary inks. Its products are used in medical and pharmaceutical devices, food packaging, personal care and cosmetics, transportation, building products, wire and cable, recreational and athletic apparel, construction and filtration, outdoor furniture, healthcare, textiles and appliances, and industrial markets. The Specialty Engineered Materials segment provides specialty polymer formulations, services, and solutions for designers, assemblers, and processors of thermoplastic materials. It sells its products through direct sales personnel, distributors, and commissioned sales agents. The company was formerly known as PolyOne Corporation and changed its name to Avient Corporation in June 2020. Avient Corporation was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Avon Lake, Ohio.