Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) and Givaudan (OTCMKTS:GVDNY) Critical Survey

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Givaudan and Minerals Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Givaudan	1	5	2	0	2.13
Minerals Technologies	0	2	1	0	2.33

Minerals Technologies has a consensus target price of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.55%. Given Minerals Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than Givaudan.

Risk and Volatility

Givaudan has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Givaudan and Minerals Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Givaudan	N/A	N/A	N/A
Minerals Technologies	7.60%	10.40%	5.19%

Dividends

Givaudan pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Minerals Technologies pays out 9.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Minerals Technologies has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Givaudan and Minerals Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Givaudan	$9.02 billion	3.69	$1.29 billion	N/A	N/A
Minerals Technologies	$2.07 billion	1.15	-$18.40 million	$5.17	14.81

Givaudan has higher revenue and earnings than Minerals Technologies.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Givaudan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Givaudan on 9 of the 15 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 Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.