Head-To-Head Review: Standard Lithium (SLI) & Its Competitors

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) is one of 33 publicly-traded companies in the “Chemicals & allied products” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Standard Lithium to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.1% of shares of all “Chemicals & allied products” companies are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of shares of all “Chemicals & allied products” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 101.5%. Standard Lithium pays out -869.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Chemicals & allied products” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.8% and pay out 41.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Standard Lithium is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Standard Lithium and its peers’ 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%
Standard Lithium Competitors	-568.74%	5.73%	-0.15%

Volatility and Risk

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.89, suggesting that its share price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium’s peers have a beta of 1.83, suggesting that their average share price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Standard Lithium and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	$108.82 million	-8.57
Standard Lithium Competitors	$6.87 billion	$214.06 million	66.27

Standard Lithium’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Standard Lithium. Standard Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Standard Lithium and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00
Standard Lithium Competitors	139	1286	1594	46	2.50

Standard Lithium presently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 77.66%. As a group, “Chemicals & allied products” companies have a potential upside of 13.04%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Standard Lithium peers beat Standard Lithium on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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.