Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGY) and Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) Head-To-Head Contrast

Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGY) and Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Brenntag and Huntsman, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brenntag	3	6	0	0	1.67
Huntsman	4	8	1	1	1.93

Brenntag currently has a consensus price target of $12.80, indicating a potential downside of 7.58%. Huntsman has a consensus price target of $12.41, indicating a potential downside of 7.01%. Given Huntsman’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Huntsman is more favorable than Brenntag.

Dividends

Brenntag pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Huntsman pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Brenntag pays out 68.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Huntsman pays out -21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Brenntag and Huntsman”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brenntag	$17.16 billion	0.58	$299.37 million	$0.41	33.78
Huntsman	$5.68 billion	0.41	-$284.00 million	($1.64)	-8.14

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

Risk & Volatility

Brenntag has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntsman has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Huntsman shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of Huntsman shares are owned 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brenntag	1.71%	5.89%	2.38%
Huntsman	-5.00%	-3.97%	-1.70%

About Brenntag

Brenntag SE purchases and supplies various industrial and specialty chemicals, and ingredients in Germany, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties. It provides just-in-time delivery, product mixing, blending, repackaging, inventory management, and drum return handling. The company serves customers in various end-market industries, including nutrition, pharma, personal care, water treatment, and lubricants; and home, industrial, and institutional markets, as well as coatings and constructions, polymers, and rubber industries. The company was founded in 1874 and is based in Essen, Germany.

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.