Head-To-Head Review: Ennis (NYSE:EBF) and 374Water (NASDAQ:SCWO)

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) and 374Water (NASDAQ:SCWO) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Ennis and 374Water, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ennis	0	0	1	0	3.00
374Water	1	0	0	0	1.00

Risk and Volatility

Ennis has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 374Water has a beta of -0.32, meaning that its stock price is 132% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ennis and 374Water”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ennis	$392.40 million	1.43	$42.63 million	$1.53	14.52
374Water	$220,000.00	242.44	-$20.98 million	($0.71)	-4.24

Ennis has higher revenue and earnings than 374Water. 374Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ennis, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ennis and 374Water’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ennis	9.81%	12.64%	10.87%
374Water	N/A	-401.97%	-170.75%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.3% of Ennis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.2% of 374Water shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ennis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.5% of 374Water shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ennis beats 374Water on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ennis

Ennis, Inc. manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands. It also provides point of purchase advertising under the Adams McClure brand name; presentation and document folders under the Admore, Folder Express, and Independent Folders brands; and custom printed, high-performance labels, and custom and stock tags under the Ennis Tag & Label brand name. In addition, the company offers custom and stock tags and labels under the Allen-Bailey Tag & Label, Atlas Tag & Label, Kay Toledo Tag, and Special Service Partners brands; custom and imprinted envelopes under the Trade Envelopes, Block Graphics, Wisco, and National Imprint Corporation brands; and financial and security documents under the Northstar and General Financial Supply brands; and custom and stock pressure seal documents under the Infoseal and PrintXcel brands. It distributes business products and forms through independent distributors, including business forms distributors, resellers, direct mail, commercial printers, payroll and accounts payable software companies, and advertising agencies. The company was formerly known as Ennis Business Forms, Inc. Ennis, Inc. was incorporated in 1909 and is headquartered in Midlothian, Texas.

About 374Water

374Water Inc. provides a technology that transforms wet wastes into recoverable resources in the United States. The company transforms wet wastes, including sewage sludge, biosolids, food waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, and forever chemicals. It offers AirSCWO systems, a waste stream treatment system based on supercritical water oxidation that are used to treat various hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams. It serves Industrial, agricultural, defense, oil and gas, waste management, sanitation project, environmental remediation and compliance, and municipal markets. 374Water Inc. is based in Durham, North Carolina.