Critical Comparison: Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) vs. Outokumpu (OTCMKTS:OUTKY)

Outokumpu (OTCMKTS:OUTKY) and Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Outokumpu and Century Aluminum”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Outokumpu	$6.19 billion	0.31	-$155.00 million	($0.03)	-68.50
Century Aluminum	$2.53 billion	1.43	$41.80 million	$8.53	4.29

Century Aluminum has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Outokumpu. Outokumpu is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Century Aluminum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Outokumpu has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Century Aluminum has a beta of 2.17, indicating that its share price is 117% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.6% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Century Aluminum shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Outokumpu and Century Aluminum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Outokumpu	-0.42%	-0.72%	-0.42%
Century Aluminum	29.74%	47.45%	24.20%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Outokumpu and Century Aluminum, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Outokumpu	0	4	1	0	2.20
Century Aluminum	0	3	4	0	2.57

Century Aluminum has a consensus price target of $60.80, indicating a potential upside of 66.22%. Given Century Aluminum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Century Aluminum is more favorable than Outokumpu.

Summary

Century Aluminum beats Outokumpu on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Outokumpu

Outokumpu is a Finnish stainless steel producer headquartered in Espoo. The company makes stainless steel products for customers in industries such as construction, transportation, household appliances and process manufacturing. Its offerings include stainless steel sheets, coils, strips and other forms, as well as ferrochrome, an important material used in stainless steel production. Outokumpu also works with recycled materials as part of its steelmaking operations. The company traces its origins to a copper deposit discovered in Outokumpu, Finland, in 1910.

About Century Aluminum

Century Aluminum Company is a global producer of primary aluminum, an essential material used in transportation, construction, packaging, and other industries. Its products include standard-grade and high-purity aluminum, supplied in forms such as ingots and billets for further processing by customers. The company operates aluminum smelting facilities in the United States and Iceland. Its activities also include producing carbon anodes, which are used in the aluminum-smelting process. Century Aluminum was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.