Contrasting American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) and Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares American Vanguard and Hawkins”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Vanguard	$547.31 million	0.26	-$126.34 million	($3.98)	-1.26
Hawkins	$974.43 million	3.09	$84.35 million	$3.95	36.47

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

Volatility and Risk

American Vanguard has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawkins has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Vanguard	-21.15%	-23.15%	-8.20%
Hawkins	7.75%	16.85%	8.93%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of Hawkins shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Hawkins shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for American Vanguard and Hawkins, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Vanguard	1	0	1	0	2.00
Hawkins	0	3	2	0	2.40

American Vanguard currently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 139.23%. Hawkins has a consensus price target of $162.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.82%. Given American Vanguard’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Vanguard is more favorable than Hawkins.

Summary

Hawkins beats American Vanguard on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Hawkins

Hawkins, Inc. operates as a specialty chemical and ingredients company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Water Treatment, and Health and Nutrition. The Industrial segment offers industrial chemicals, products, and services to agriculture, chemical processing, electronics, energy, food, pharmaceutical, and plating industries. This segment manufactures sodium hypochlorite and agricultural products, as well as various food-grade and pharmaceutical products, such as liquid phosphates, lactates, other blended products, and agricultural products; and receives, stores, and distributes various chemicals comprising liquid caustic soda, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, urea, phosphoric acid, aqua ammonia, and potassium hydroxide. It also repackages water treatment chemicals and bulk industrial chemicals; and performs custom blending of chemicals. The Water Treatment segment provides chemicals, products, equipment, services, and solutions for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial process water, non-residential swimming pool water, and agriculture water. The Health and Nutrition segment offers ingredient distribution, processing, and formulation solutions to manufacturers of nutraceutical, functional food and beverage, personal care, dietary supplement and other nutritional food, and health and wellness products. Its products portfolio includes minerals, vitamins and amino acids, excipients, joint products, botanicals and herbs, sweeteners, and enzymes. Hawkins, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota.