Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR – Get Free Report) and Orion (NYSE:OEC – Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.
Risk & Volatility
Quaker Houghton has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Quaker Houghton and Orion, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Quaker Houghton | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Orion | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.40 |
Dividends
Quaker Houghton pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Orion pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Quaker Houghton pays out -414.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orion pays out -13.8% 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. Quaker Houghton has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
77.5% of Quaker Houghton shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.3% of Orion shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Quaker Houghton shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Orion shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Quaker Houghton and Orion”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Quaker Houghton | $1.84 billion | 1.67 | $116.64 million | ($0.49) | -361.75 |
| Orion | $1.88 billion | 0.21 | $44.20 million | ($0.58) | -12.03 |
Quaker Houghton has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Orion. Quaker Houghton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orion, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Quaker Houghton and Orion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Quaker Houghton | -0.48% | 8.64% | 4.31% |
| Orion | -1.74% | 14.90% | 3.45% |
Summary
Quaker Houghton beats Orion on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Quaker Houghton
Quaker Chemical Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets various formulated specialty chemical products for a range of heavy industrial and manufacturing applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It offers metal removal fluids, cleaning fluids, corrosion inhibitors, metal drawing and forming fluids, die-cast mold releases, heat treatment and quenchants, metal forging fluids, hydraulic fluids, specialty greases, offshore sub-sea energy control fluids, rolling lubricants, rod and wire drawing fluids, and surface treatment chemicals. The company also provides chemical management services. It serves steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, offshore, container, mining, and metalworking companies. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
About Orion
Orion S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings. It also provides rubber carbon black products for applications in mechanical rubber goods, as well as in tires under the ECORAX brand name; and acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. It operates in the United States, Brazil, rest of the Americas, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France, Rest of EMEA, China, the Republic of Korea, and rest of Asia. The company was formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. and changed its name to Orion S.A. in June 2023. Orion S.A. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg.
Receive News & Ratings for Quaker Houghton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Quaker Houghton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
