Materion (MTRN) vs. Its Peers Critical Contrast

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) is one of 103 publicly-traded companies in the “MINING – MISC” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Materion to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Materion and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Materion	0.59%	12.83%	6.49%
Materion Competitors	-938.79%	-12.66%	-5.27%

Dividends

Materion pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Materion pays out 112.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “MINING – MISC” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.9% and pay out 60.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Materion has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Materion lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Materion and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Materion	0	1	0	0	2.00
Materion Competitors	613	1678	3302	139	2.52

As a group, “MINING – MISC” companies have a potential upside of 23.05%. Given Materion’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Materion has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Materion and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Materion	$1.68 billion	$5.89 million	158.28
Materion Competitors	$8.27 billion	$447.87 million	-0.53

Materion’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Materion. Materion is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.6% of Materion shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.1% of shares of all “MINING – MISC” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Materion shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of shares of all “MINING – MISC” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Materion has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Materion’s competitors have a beta of 0.77, meaning that their average share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Materion competitors beat Materion on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other. The company provides advanced engineered solutions comprising beryllium and non-beryllium containing alloy systems and custom engineered parts in strip, bulk, rod, plate, bar, tube, and other customized shapes; engineering and product development services; alloyed metals, beryllium products, and beryllium hydroxide; precision strip, rod, and wire products, as well as engineered strip metal products; and ToughMet alloys and SupremEX aluminum silicon carbide metal matrix composite formulation products. It operates the bertrandite ore mine and refinery located in Utah that provides feedstock hydroxide for its beryllium businesses and external sale. In addition, it produces advanced chemicals, microelectronics packaging, precious metal, non-precious metal, and specialty metal products, including vapor deposition targets, frame lid assemblies, clad and precious metal pre-forms, high temperature braze materials, and ultra-pure wire. Further, the company designs and produces precision thin film coatings, optical filters, and assemblies. The company sells its products directly from its facilities, as well as through company-owned service centers, outside distributors, agents, direct sales offices, and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation in March 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.