Mitsubishi Chemical (OTCMKTS:MTLHY) and Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Financial Comparison

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Basf	2.59%	4.37%	1.95%
Mitsubishi Chemical	0.62%	0.98%	0.38%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Basf and Mitsubishi Chemical”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Basf	$67.48 billion	0.79	$1.83 billion	$0.51	29.29
Mitsubishi Chemical	$28.94 billion	0.29	$297.13 million	$0.61	48.21

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

Dividends

Basf pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Mitsubishi Chemical pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Basf pays out 86.3% 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 113.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Basf is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Basf has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mitsubishi Chemical has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Basf shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Basf and Mitsubishi Chemical, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Basf	1	3	3	1	2.50
Mitsubishi Chemical	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

Basf beats Mitsubishi Chemical on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.

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.