Reviewing Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Chemours (NYSE:CC)

Chemours (NYSE:CC) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.3% of Chemours shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Chemours shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held 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.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemours	$5.75 billion	0.51	-$238.00 million	$0.50	39.58
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.58	3.74

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemours	1.34%	29.48%	2.74%
Standard Lithium	N/A	-15.67%	-14.05%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Chemours and Standard Lithium, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemours	0	5	3	0	2.38
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00

Chemours presently has a consensus price target of $24.88, indicating a potential upside of 25.69%. Standard Lithium has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 61.29%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Chemours.

Volatility & Risk

Chemours has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.79, indicating that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Chemours beats Standard Lithium on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chemours

The Chemours Company provides performance chemicals in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials. The Titanium Technologies segment provides TiO2 pigment under the Ti-Pure brand for delivering whiteness, brightness, opacity, durability, efficiency, and protection in various of applications, such as architectural and industrial coatings, flexible and rigid plastic packaging, polyvinylchloride, laminate papers used for furniture and building materials, coated paper, and coated paperboard used for packaging. The Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment offers of refrigerants, thermal management solutions, propellants, foam blowing agents, and specialty solvents. The Advanced Performance Materials segment products portfolio includes various industrial resins, specialty products, membranes, and coatings for electronics, communications, transportation, wire and cable, energy, oil and gas, and medical, and other applications under the eflon, Viton, Krytox, and Nafion brands. The company sells its products through direct and indirect channels, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The Chemours Company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

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.