American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD – Get Free Report) and Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares American Vanguard and Quaker Houghton’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Vanguard | -10.70% | -9.05% | -2.78% |
| Quaker Houghton | 4.94% | 9.55% | 4.66% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.5% of Quaker Houghton shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Quaker Houghton shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Vanguard | $515.11 million | 0.13 | -$49.88 million | ($1.90) | -1.15 |
| Quaker Houghton | $1.89 billion | 1.43 | -$2.49 million | $5.61 | 27.88 |
Quaker Houghton has higher revenue and earnings than American Vanguard. American Vanguard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quaker Houghton, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for American Vanguard and Quaker Houghton, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Vanguard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Quaker Houghton | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.00 |
Quaker Houghton has a consensus price target of $187.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.58%. Given Quaker Houghton’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Quaker Houghton is more favorable than American Vanguard.
Volatility & Risk
American Vanguard has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quaker Houghton has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Quaker Houghton beats American Vanguard on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Vanguard
American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
About Quaker Houghton
Quaker Chemical Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets various formulated specialty chemical products for a range of heavy industrial and manufacturing applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It offers metal removal fluids, cleaning fluids, corrosion inhibitors, metal drawing and forming fluids, die-cast mold releases, heat treatment and quenchants, metal forging fluids, hydraulic fluids, specialty greases, offshore sub-sea energy control fluids, rolling lubricants, rod and wire drawing fluids, and surface treatment chemicals. The company also provides chemical management services. It serves steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, offshore, container, mining, and metalworking companies. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
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