Reviewing Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) & Olin (NYSE:OLN)

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Olin (NYSE:OLN) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Olin shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Olin shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Standard Lithium and Olin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standard Lithium	N/A	-15.67%	-14.05%
Olin	4.26%	11.73%	3.43%

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 96.6%. Olin pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Standard Lithium pays out -869.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Olin pays out 28.8% 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. Standard Lithium is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Standard Lithium and Olin”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	($0.23)	-9.00
Olin	$6.57 billion	0.86	$460.20 million	$2.78	16.96

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

Risk and Volatility

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.89, meaning that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Olin has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Standard Lithium and Olin, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00
Olin	1	8	6	0	2.33

Standard Lithium presently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 69.08%. Olin has a consensus target price of $52.40, indicating a potential upside of 11.17%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Olin.

Summary

Olin beats Standard Lithium on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Olin

Olin Corporation manufactures and distributes chemical products in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls; Epoxy; and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment offers chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomers, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products, potassium hydroxide, and chlorinated organics intermediates and solvents. The Epoxy segment provides Allylics, such as allyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, and glycerin; aromatics, including acetone, bisphenol, cumene, and phenol; liquid and solid epoxy resins; and converted epoxy resins and additives. The Winchester segment offers sporting ammunition products, including shotshells, small caliber centerfire, and rimfire ammunition products for hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies; small caliber military ammunition products for use in infantry and mounted weapons; and industrial products comprising gauge loads and powder-actuated tool loads for maintenance applications in power and concrete industries, and powder-actuated tools in construction industry. The company markets its products through its sales force, as well as directly to various industrial customers, mass merchants, retailers, wholesalers, gun clubs, other distributors, and the U.S. Government and its prime contractors. Olin Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is based in Clayton, Missouri.