Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) vs. Avient (NYSE:AVNT) Head-To-Head Review

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) and Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Avient and Huntsman”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avient	$3.26 billion	1.20	$81.90 million	$0.89	48.06
Huntsman	$6.04 billion	0.38	-$189.00 million	($1.90)	-6.96

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Avient and Huntsman, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avient	0	4	3	0	2.43
Huntsman	4	8	2	0	1.86

Avient presently has a consensus target price of $47.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.87%. Huntsman has a consensus target price of $11.00, indicating a potential downside of 16.77%. Given Avient’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Avient is more favorable than Huntsman.

Dividends

Avient pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Huntsman pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Avient pays out 123.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Huntsman pays out -18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avient has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Huntsman has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Huntsman is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avient	2.51%	10.95%	4.31%
Huntsman	-5.69%	-3.26%	-1.41%

Volatility & Risk

Avient has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntsman has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.5% of Avient shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Huntsman shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Avient shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Huntsman shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Avient beats Huntsman on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Huntsman

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products. The Performance Products segment manufactures amines, such as polyetheramines, ethyleneamines, DGA Agent, JEFFCAT catalysts, and E-GRADE specialty amines and carbonates; and maleic anhydrides. The Advanced Materials segment offers epoxy, phenoxy, acrylic, polyurethane, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-based polymer formulations; and thermoset resins, curing and toughening agents, and carbon nanomaterials. The company provides pre-and post-sales technical service support to customers. Its products are used in a range of applications, including adhesives, aerospace, automotive, construction products, durable and non-durable consumer products, electronics, insulation, packaging, coatings and construction, power generation, and refining, as well as serves the elastomers, insulation, footwear, furniture, industrial, oil and gas, liquid natural gas transport, printed circuit boards, consumer, appliances, electrical power transmission and distribution, recreational sports equipment, and medical appliances markets. The company sells its products through a network of distributors and agents. Huntsman Corporation was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.