Head to Head Analysis: Ascent Industries (ACNT) vs. Its Competitors

Ascent Industries (NASDAQ:ACNT) is one of 295 public companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Ascent Industries to related companies based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Ascent Industries and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Industries	-1.04%	-1.11%	-0.85%
Ascent Industries Competitors	-59.14%	-0.41%	-1.37%

Volatility and Risk

Ascent Industries has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ascent Industries’ peers have a beta of 0.93, suggesting that their average share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ascent Industries and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Industries	$74.94 million	$870,000.00	-137.40
Ascent Industries Competitors	$6.40 billion	$222.31 million	6.86

Ascent Industries’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Ascent Industries. Ascent Industries 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

26.1% of Ascent Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.4% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 7.5% of Ascent Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Ascent Industries and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Industries	1	0	0	0	1.00
Ascent Industries Competitors	3248	12210	14131	519	2.40

As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 8.90%. Given Ascent Industries’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ascent Industries has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

Ascent Industries peers beat Ascent Industries on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

About Ascent Industries

Ascent Industries Co. an industrials company, produces and distributes stainless steel pipe and tube and specialty chemicals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Tubular Products and Specialty Chemicals. It manufactures welded pipes and tubes, primarily from stainless steel, duplex, and nickel alloys; and ornamental stainless steel tubes for automotive, commercial transportation, marine, food services, construction, furniture, healthcare, and other industries. The company also produces defoamers, surfactants, and lubricating agents for end users, including companies that supply agrochemical paper, metal working, coatings, water treatment, paint, mining, oil and gas, and janitorial and other applications. In addition, it provides contract manufacturing services, as well as operates as a multi-purpose plant to process various difficult to handle materials, including flammable solvents, viscous liquids, and granular solids. The company was formerly known as Synalloy Corporation and changed its name to Ascent Industries Co. in August 2022. Ascent Industries Co. was founded in 1945 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.