Comparing Mitsubishi Chemical (OTCMKTS:MTLHY) and Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) and Mitsubishi Chemical (OTCMKTS:MTLHY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

Eastman Chemical pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Mitsubishi Chemical pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Eastman Chemical pays out 97.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mitsubishi Chemical pays out 108.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Eastman Chemical has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Eastman Chemical is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eastman Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eastman Chemical	$8.75 billion	0.91	$474.00 million	$3.45	20.08
Mitsubishi Chemical	$24.61 billion	0.43	$439.53 million	$0.61	59.48

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Eastman Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eastman Chemical	0	7	7	0	2.50
Mitsubishi Chemical	0	0	0	0	0.00

Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus target price of $80.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.21%. Given Eastman Chemical’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Eastman Chemical is more favorable than Mitsubishi Chemical.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.7% of Eastman Chemical shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Eastman Chemical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Eastman Chemical has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mitsubishi Chemical has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Eastman Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eastman Chemical	4.62%	8.88%	3.52%
Mitsubishi Chemical	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Eastman Chemical beats Mitsubishi Chemical on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Eastman Chemical

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers amine derivative-based building blocks, intermediates for surfactants, metam-based soil fumigants, and organic acid-based solutions; specialty coalescent and solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; and heat transfer and aviation fluids. It serves transportation, personal care, wellness, food, feed, agriculture, building and construction, water treatment, energy, consumables, durables, and electronics markets. Its Advanced Materials segment provides copolyesters, cellulosic biopolymers, cellulose esters, polyvinyl butyral sheets, and window and protective films for value-added end uses in the transportation, durables, electronics, building and construction, medical and pharma, and consumables markets. The company's Chemical Intermediates segment offers olefin and acetyl derivatives, ethylene, and commodity solvents; and primary non-phthalate and phthalate plasticizers, and niche non-phthalate plasticizers for industrial chemicals and processing, building and construction, health and wellness, and food and feed. Its Fibers segment provides cellulose acetate tow, triacetin, cellulose acetate flake, acetic acid, and acetic anhydride for use in filtration media primarily cigarette filters; natural and solution dyed acetate yarns, and staple fiber for use in consumables, and health and wellness markets; and wet-laid nonwoven media, specialty and engineered papers, and cellulose acetate fibers for transportation, industrial, agriculture and mining, and aerospace markets. The company was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee.

About Mitsubishi Chemical

Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation provides performance products, chemicals, industrial gases, health care products, and other products in Japan and internationally. It operates in five segments: Specialty Materials, Industrial Gases, Health Care, MMA, and Basic Materials. The Specialty Materials segment offers performance polymers, soarnol, gohsenol, sustainable polymers, and engineering plastics; coating materials, additives, and fines; packaging, industrial and medical, acetyl, and polyester films; engineering shapes and solutions, carbon fiber and composite materials, and fibers; aqua, life, and infrastructure solutions; and semiconductor, electronics, and battery materials. The Industrial Gases segment provides industrial gases. The Health Care segment offers ethical pharmaceuticals. The MMA segment provides methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The Basic Materials segment offers basic petrochemicals, polyolefins, and basic chemical derivatives, as well as carbon products. The company provides engineering, transportation, and warehousing services. Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.