Reviewing Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) & Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN)

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) and Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) are both materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.6% of Aspen Aerogels shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ingevity shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Aspen Aerogels shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Ingevity shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Aspen Aerogels and Ingevity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aspen Aerogels	-62.45%	-31.12%	-17.33%
Ingevity	4.65%	284.70%	10.82%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Aspen Aerogels and Ingevity, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aspen Aerogels	2	1	4	0	2.29
Ingevity	0	3	2	0	2.40

Aspen Aerogels currently has a consensus price target of $5.94, indicating a potential upside of 22.93%. Ingevity has a consensus price target of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.86%. Given Aspen Aerogels’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Aspen Aerogels is more favorable than Ingevity.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aspen Aerogels and Ingevity”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aspen Aerogels	$271.10 million	1.48	-$389.55 million	($1.53)	-3.16
Ingevity	$1.17 billion	2.02	-$167.10 million	$1.47	46.57

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

Volatility & Risk

Aspen Aerogels has a beta of 2.97, indicating that its share price is 197% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ingevity has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ingevity beats Aspen Aerogels on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerogel insulation products primarily for use in the energy infrastructure and sustainable insulation materials markets in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Energy Industrial and Thermal Barrier. The company offers PyroThin thermal barriers for use in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage industries; Pyrogel XTE that reduces the risk of corrosion under insulation in energy infrastructure operating systems; and Pyrogel HPS for applications within the power generation market. It also offers Pyrogel XTF to provide protection against fire; Cryogel Z for sub-ambient and cryogenic applications in the energy infrastructure market; Spaceloft Subsea for use in pipe-in-pipe applications in offshore oil production; and Cryogel X201, which is used in designing cold systems, such as refrigerated appliances, cold storage equipment, and aerospace systems. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Northborough, Massachusetts.

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.