Head-To-Head Analysis: Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGY) versus American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD)

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) and Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGY) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.0% of American Vanguard shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of American Vanguard shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for American Vanguard and Brenntag, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Vanguard	1	0	0	0	1.00
Brenntag	1	6	0	0	1.86

Profitability

This table compares American Vanguard and Brenntag’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Vanguard	-10.70%	-9.05%	-2.78%
Brenntag	2.41%	8.30%	3.32%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Vanguard and Brenntag”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Vanguard	$515.11 million	0.06	-$49.88 million	($1.90)	-0.58
Brenntag	$17.16 billion	0.59	$299.37 million	$0.59	23.86

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

Risk & Volatility

American Vanguard has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brenntag has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Brenntag beats American Vanguard on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

About Brenntag

Brenntag SE purchases and supplies various industrial and specialty chemicals, and ingredients in Germany, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties. It provides just-in-time delivery, product mixing, blending, repackaging, inventory management, and drum return handling. The company serves customers in various end-market industries, including nutrition, pharma, personal care, water treatment, and lubricants; and home, industrial, and institutional markets, as well as coatings and constructions, polymers, and rubber industries. The company was founded in 1874 and is based in Essen, Germany.