Head-To-Head Survey: Westaim (OTCMKTS:WEDXF) vs. Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT)

Westaim (OTCMKTS:WEDXF) and Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Westaim and Sensient Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westaim	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sensient Technologies	1	2	1	0	2.00

Sensient Technologies has a consensus price target of $110.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.58%. Given Sensient Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sensient Technologies is more favorable than Westaim.

Volatility & Risk

Westaim has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sensient Technologies has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Westaim and Sensient Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westaim	-123.33%	-6.91%	-6.03%
Sensient Technologies	8.34%	12.82%	6.78%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.9% of Sensient Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Westaim shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Sensient Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westaim and Sensient Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westaim	$17.04 million	34.83	-$16.18 million	($1.69)	-10.52
Sensient Technologies	$1.61 billion	2.19	$134.49 million	$3.16	26.26

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

Summary

Sensient Technologies beats Westaim on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westaim

The Westaim Corporation is a private equity firm specializing in direct and indirect investments through acquisitions, joint ventures, secondary investments both direct and indirect, fund of fund investments, and other arrangements. For direct investments, the firm invests in early venture, mid venture, late venture, middle market, later stage, mature, emerging growth, PIPEs, and buyout transactions. For fund of fund investments, it seeks to invest in private equity funds, venture capital funds, and hedge funds. The firm seeks to provide long term capital to businesses operating in the global financial services industry. It typically acquires controlling interests in businesses. The firm seeks to acquire debt, equity, or derivative securities of both public and private companies. It invests with the objective of providing its shareholders with capital appreciation and real wealth preservation. The firm seeks to provide its portfolio companies with advisory services including, but not limited to, advice on capital allocation, financing strategy, performance measurement and merger and acquisition support. It also seeks to partner with like-minded providers of third party capital to help supplement the firm's own capital, when completing acquisitions. The firm generally seeks to hold its investments for seven to 15 years. The Westaim Corporation was founded in 1996 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Sensient Technologies

Sensient Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets colors, flavors, and other specialty ingredients in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa. The company offers flavor-delivery systems, and compounded and blended products; ingredient products, such as essential oils, natural and synthetic flavors, and natural extracts; and chili powder, paprika, and chili pepper, as well as dehydrated vegetables comprising parsley, celery, and spinach to the food, beverage, and personal care industries. It also provides natural and synthetic color systems for use in foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals; colors and other ingredients for personal care, such as active ingredients, solubilizers, and surface treated pigments; pharmaceutical and nutraceutical excipients, including colors, flavors, coatings, and nutraceutical ingredients; and technical colors for industrial applications under the Sensient Food Colors, Sensient Pharmaceutical Coating Systems, Sensient Cosmetic Technologies, and Sensient Specialty Markets trade names. Sensient Technologies Corporation was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.