Critical Review: Orkla Asa (OTCMKTS:ORKLY) & Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ:IEP)

Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ:IEP) and Orkla Asa (OTCMKTS:ORKLY) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Icahn Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 25.4%. Orkla Asa pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Icahn Enterprises pays out -253.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orkla Asa pays out 26.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Icahn Enterprises is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Icahn Enterprises and Orkla Asa”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Icahn Enterprises	$9.48 billion	0.50	-$445.00 million	($0.79)	-9.95
Orkla Asa	$6.57 billion	N/A	$546.95 million	$1.04	10.66

Orkla Asa has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Icahn Enterprises. Icahn Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orkla Asa, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Icahn Enterprises and Orkla Asa, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Icahn Enterprises	1	1	0	0	1.50
Orkla Asa	0	0	0	1	4.00

Profitability

This table compares Icahn Enterprises and Orkla Asa’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Icahn Enterprises	-4.04%	-10.13%	-2.51%
Orkla Asa	15.49%	13.29%	7.46%

Risk and Volatility

Icahn Enterprises has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orkla Asa has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.1% of Icahn Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. 90.1% of Icahn Enterprises shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Orkla Asa beats Icahn Enterprises on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Icahn Enterprises

Icahn Enterprises L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the investment, energy, automotive, food packaging, real estate, home fashion, and pharma businesses in the United States and Internationally. The Investment segment invests its proprietary capital through various private investment funds. This segment provides investment advisory and other related services. The Energy segment refines and markets transportation fuels in the form of gasoline and diesel fuels, as well as renewable diesel; and manufactures nitrogen fertilizers in the form of urea ammonium nitrate and ammonia. The Automotive segment sells automotive parts and materials, and retailed merchandise; offers automotive repair and maintenance services; and leases real estate properties. The Food Packaging segment produces and sells cellulosic, fibrous, and plastic casings that are used to prepare and package processed meat products. The Real Estate segment is involved in the leasing of land, retail, office, and industrial properties; the development and sale of single-family homes; and the operation of country clubs. The Home Fashion segment manufactures, sources, markets, distributes, and sells home fashion consumer products. The Pharma segment offers pharmaceutical products and services. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

About Orkla Asa

Orkla ASA engages in branded consumer goods, and industrial and financial investment businesses. The company offers branded products, including frozen pizza, ketchup, soups, sauces, bread toppings, and ready-to-eat meals through grocery channels, as well as food service, convenience stores, and petrol stations. It also provides confectionery, biscuit, and snack products; and spices, masalas, and various food products based on dried mixes. In addition, the company offers personal care, hygiene, laundry detergent, and cleaning products; dietary supplement, oral care, sport nutrition, and weight control products; wound care products and first aid equipment; painting tools and accessories; basic and wool garments; and professional cleaning products. It operates Gymgrossisten, Proteinfabrikken, Bodystore, and Fitnesstukku e-commerce portals for health and sports nutrition products; and restaurants. Additionally, the company supplies margarine and butter blends, bread and cake improvers and mixes, yeast, marzipan, and ice cream ingredients; produces and supplies hydro power to the Nordic power market; and develops and sells real estate properties. It offers its food products under the Grandiosa, TORO, Stabburet, Felix, Paulúns, Fun Light, Abba, Beauvais, Kalles, Den Gamle Fabrik, Hamé, and Vitana brands; confectionery and snacks under the KiMs, Nidar, Stratos, Sætre, Göteborgs Kex, OLW, Panda, Laima, Selga, Taffel, Kalev, and Nói Síríus brands; home and personal care products under Zalo, OMO, Blenda, Jif, Define, Solidox, Dr Greve, Lano, and Bliw; health produtcs under Möller's, Jordan, Vitalab, OSL, Cederroth First Aid, Salvequick, Livol, Nutrilett, Maxim, Collett, Solidox and CuraMed brands; and food ingredients under the Odense, Mors Hjemmebakte, KronJäst, Bakkedal, and NATURLI brands. It has operations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Baltics, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.