Reviewing Givaudan (OTCMKTS:GVDNY) & Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT)

Givaudan (OTCMKTS:GVDNY) and Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Givaudan and Ecovyst, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Givaudan	0	3	0	1	2.50
Ecovyst	1	0	3	0	2.50

Ecovyst has a consensus target price of $11.67, indicating a potential upside of 35.42%. Given Ecovyst’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ecovyst is more favorable than Givaudan.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Givaudan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Ecovyst shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Ecovyst shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Givaudan has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecovyst has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Givaudan and Ecovyst”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Givaudan	$8.42 billion	4.47	$1.24 billion	N/A	N/A
Ecovyst	$704.50 million	1.40	-$6.65 million	($0.12)	-71.79

Givaudan has higher revenue and earnings than Ecovyst.

Profitability

This table compares Givaudan and Ecovyst’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Givaudan	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ecovyst	-1.91%	7.69%	3.00%

Summary

Ecovyst beats Givaudan on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Givaudan

Givaudan SA manufactures, supplies, and sells fragrance, beauty, taste, and wellbeing products to the consumer goods industry. The company operates through divisions, Fragrance & Beauty, and Taste & Wellbeing. The Fragrance & Beauty division offers fine fragrances; consumer products, such as personal, home, fabric, and oral care; fragrance ingredients; and active beauty products. The Taste & Wellbeing division provides beverages, such as fizzy drinks, bottled waters, ready-to-drink juices, alcoholic beverages, and others; dairy and cheese products, including dairy drinks, yoghurt, ice cream, chilled desserts, cream cheese, and spreads; snacks; givaudan flavour ingredients; savory, and supplements and nutraceutical products; and biscuits, crackers, and cereals, as well as confectionery products, such as chewing gums, chocolates, and sweets. It operates in Switzerland, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. Givaudan SA was founded in 1796 and is headquartered in Vernier, Switzerland.

About Ecovyst

Ecovyst Inc. offers specialty catalysts and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts. The Ecoservices segment provides sulfuric acid recycling services and end-to-end logistics for production of alkylate for refineries; and virgin sulfuric acid for mining, water treatment, and industrial applications. The Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment offers advanced materials and specialty catalyst products and process solutions to producers and licensors of polyethylene and advanced silicas. This segment also supplies specialty zeolites and zeolite-based catalysts to customers for refining of oil primarily hydrocracking catalyst and dewaxing, sustainable fuels, and emission control systems for both on-road and non-road diesel engines. The company was formerly known as PQ Group Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ecovyst Inc. in August 2021. Ecovyst Inc. was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.