Comparing American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) and FUCHS (OTCMKTS:FUPBY)

FUCHS (OTCMKTS:FUPBY) and American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FUCHS and American Vanguard”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FUCHS	$3.81 billion	N/A	$326.79 million	$0.63	17.67
American Vanguard	$547.31 million	0.20	-$126.34 million	($3.98)	-0.98

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

Volatility and Risk

FUCHS has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Vanguard has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares FUCHS and American Vanguard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FUCHS	8.30%	15.46%	11.14%
American Vanguard	-21.15%	-23.15%	-8.20%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for FUCHS and American Vanguard, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FUCHS	1	0	1	0	2.00
American Vanguard	1	0	1	0	2.00

American Vanguard has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 208.09%. Given American Vanguard’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Vanguard is more favorable than FUCHS.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

FUCHS beats American Vanguard on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FUCHS

Fuchs SE develops, produces, and sells lubricants and related specialties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and North and South America. The company offers automotive lubricants, such as biodegradable lubricants, central and mobile hydraulic oils, dry coatings, engine and gear oils, motorcycle/two wheelers, and service fluids, as well as various oils for agriculture sector. It also provides industrial lubricants, including chain lubricants, dry coatings, gear and hydraulic oils, machine oils, open gear lubricants, rapidly biodegradable lubricants, compressor and refrigeration oils, release agents, slideways oils, fluids and industrial oils, textile machine oils, and turbine oils. In addition, the company offers lubricating greases comprising assembly pastes, biodegradable greases, food grade greases, multi-purpose/long-life greases, pastes for extreme temperatures, perfluorinated pastes, and wheel bearing greases, as well as gear boxes, and greases for central lubricating system, extreme temperature, machine tools, plain and roller bearings, rail vehicles, spray cans or rattle cans, and solid lubricants. Further, it provides metal processing lubricants consisting of cleaners, corrosion preventives, cutting and grinding, forming lubricants, and quenching oils; and special application lubricants for application equipment, chain lubrication, dry coatings, food and beverage, gears, sugar processing, railway traffic, plain and roller bearings, glass manufacturing process, hot forming, maintenance, open gears, pastes, release agents, other specialties, special greases, and wind power plants. Additionally, the company offers open gear and surface coating services. The company was formerly known as Fuchs Petrolub SE and changed its name to Fuchs SE in July 2023. Fuchs SE was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.