Financial Comparison: Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) and Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT)

Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) and Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Axalta Coating Systems and Ingevity, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Axalta Coating Systems	0	12	7	0	2.37
Ingevity	1	2	1	0	2.00

Axalta Coating Systems currently has a consensus price target of $36.56, suggesting a potential upside of 7.41%. Ingevity has a consensus price target of $67.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.46%. Given Axalta Coating Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Axalta Coating Systems is more favorable than Ingevity.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ingevity shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Ingevity shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Axalta Coating Systems and Ingevity”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Axalta Coating Systems	$5.12 billion	1.42	$378.00 million	$1.74	19.56
Ingevity	$1.41 billion	1.81	-$430.30 million	($1.82)	-38.82

Axalta Coating Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Ingevity. Ingevity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Axalta Coating Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Axalta Coating Systems and Ingevity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Axalta Coating Systems	7.39%	23.60%	7.07%
Ingevity	-5.14%	103.69%	9.17%

Volatility & Risk

Axalta Coating Systems has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ingevity has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Axalta Coating Systems beats Ingevity on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings. It also offers water and solvent-borne products and systems to repair damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops. In addition, the company provides functional and decorative liquid, and powder coatings used in various industrial applications, including building materials, cabinet, wood and luxury vinyl flooring and furniture market under the Voltatex, AquaEC, Durapon, Hydropon, UNRIVALED, Ceranamel, Industrial, Corlar Industrial, Tufcote, Imron Industrial, Alesta, Teodur, Nap-Gard, Abcite, and Plascoat brands for powder coatings. Further, it develops and supplies electrocoat, primer, the basecoat, and clearcoat products for OEMs of light and commercial vehicles; and coatings systems for various commercial applications, including HDT, MDT, bus, and rail under the Imron, Imron Elite, Centari, Rival, Corlar epoxy undercoats, and AquaEC brands. The company offers products under the Audurra, Abcite, Alesta, AquaEC, Centari, Ceranamel, Challenger, Chemophan, ColorNet, Cromax, Cromax Mosaic, Durapon 70, Duxone, Harmonized Coating Technologies, Imron ExcelPro, Lutophen, Nason, Spies Hecker, Standox, Stollaquid, Syntopal, Syrox, Raptor, U-POL, and Vermeera brand names. The company was formerly known as Axalta Coating Systems Bermuda Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. in August 2014. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

About Ingevity

Ingevity Corporation manufactures and sells activated carbon products, derivative specialty chemicals, and engineered polymers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It operates through three segments: Performance Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Advanced Polymer Technologies. The Performance Materials segment engineers, manufactures, and sells hardwood-based and chemically activated carbon products for use in gasoline vapor emission control systems in cars, motorcycles, trucks, and boats. This segment also produces other activated carbon products for food, water, beverage, and chemical purification applications. The Performance Chemicals segment consists of road technologies and industrial specialties. This segment's products are used in pavement construction, pavement preservation, pavement reconstruction and recycling, road markings, agrochemical dispersants, paper chemicals, and other industrial uses. The Advanced Polymer Technologies segment produces caprolactone and caprolactone-based specialty polymers for use in coatings, resins, elastomers, adhesives, bioplastics, and medical devices. It serves automotive parts and components manufacturers through sales representatives and distributors. The company was formerly known as WestRock Company, Specialty Chemicals Business and changed its name to Ingevity Corporation in September 2015. Ingevity Corporation was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina.