Financial Survey: Croda International (OTCMKTS:COIHY) and Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT)

Croda International (OTCMKTS:COIHY) and Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Croda International and Sensient Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Croda International	$2.08 billion	2.47	$202.55 million	N/A	N/A
Sensient Technologies	$1.56 billion	2.63	$124.67 million	$3.27	29.51

Croda International has higher revenue and earnings than Sensient Technologies.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Croda International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of Sensient Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Sensient Technologies shares are held 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Croda International and Sensient Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Croda International	2	1	0	2	2.40
Sensient Technologies	0	3	1	0	2.25

Sensient Technologies has a consensus price target of $110.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.99%. Given Sensient Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sensient Technologies is more favorable than Croda International.

Dividends

Croda International pays an annual dividend of $0.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sensient Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Sensient Technologies pays out 50.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Croda International and Sensient Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Croda International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sensient Technologies	8.72%	12.91%	6.80%

Volatility & Risk

Croda International has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sensient Technologies has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sensient Technologies beats Croda International on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Croda International

Croda International Plc engages in the consumer care, life science, and industrial specialty businesses in in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia, and Latin America. The company offers speciality and active ingredients across beauty care, beauty actives, and home care products, as well as fragrances and flavours. It also provides biologics drug delivery, adjuvant systems, small molecule, protein, and nucleic acid delivery platforms, as well as purity materials for pharmaceutical formulations. In addition, the company offers crop protection and seed enhancement related solutions. Croda International Plc was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Goole, the United Kingdom.

About Sensient Technologies

Sensient Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets colors, flavors, and other specialty ingredients in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa. The company offers flavor-delivery systems, and compounded and blended products; ingredient products, such as essential oils, natural and synthetic flavors, and natural extracts; and chili powder, paprika, and chili pepper, as well as dehydrated vegetables comprising parsley, celery, and spinach to the food, beverage, and personal care industries. It also provides natural and synthetic color systems for use in foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals; colors and other ingredients for personal care, such as active ingredients, solubilizers, and surface treated pigments; pharmaceutical and nutraceutical excipients, including colors, flavors, coatings, and nutraceutical ingredients; and technical colors for industrial applications under the Sensient Food Colors, Sensient Pharmaceutical Coating Systems, Sensient Cosmetic Technologies, and Sensient Specialty Markets trade names. Sensient Technologies Corporation was incorporated in 1882 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.