Comparing Mativ (NYSE:MATV) and Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA)

Mativ (NYSE:MATV) and Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Mativ and Axalta Coating Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mativ	1	1	1	0	2.00
Axalta Coating Systems	0	9	10	0	2.53

Mativ presently has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential downside of 17.86%. Axalta Coating Systems has a consensus target price of $36.06, indicating a potential upside of 26.48%. Given Axalta Coating Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Axalta Coating Systems is more favorable than Mativ.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.0% of Mativ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Mativ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Mativ has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Axalta Coating Systems has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mativ	-22.03%	7.06%	1.73%
Axalta Coating Systems	8.81%	24.92%	7.19%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mativ and Axalta Coating Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mativ	$1.98 billion	0.34	-$48.70 million	($8.03)	-1.52
Axalta Coating Systems	$5.28 billion	1.15	$391.00 million	$2.09	13.64

Axalta Coating Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Mativ. Mativ 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.

Summary

Axalta Coating Systems beats Mativ on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mativ

Mativ Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials manufactures and sells various engineered polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens for the filtration, protective solutions, release liners, and healthcare end-markets. This segment sells its products directly, as well as through sales agents and distributors. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment produces packaging and specialty paper products. This segment provides premium packaging products that are used for wine, spirits and beer labels, folding cartons, box wrap, bags, hang tags, and stored value cards servicing retail, cosmetics, spirits, and electronics end-use markets; and premium papers, which are used in commercial printing services, advertising collateral, stationery, corporate identity packages and brochures, direct mail, business cards, and other uses. It also offers branded paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. This segment distributes its products through authorized paper distributors, converters, retailers, and specialty business converters, as well as directly to end-users. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

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.