Head-To-Head Contrast: Magnera (NYSE:MAGN) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV)

Mativ (NYSE:MATV) and Magnera (NYSE:MAGN) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.0% of Mativ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.9% of Magnera shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Mativ shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Magnera shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mativ and Magnera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mativ	-2.46%	3.86%	1.32%
Magnera	-6.97%	-10.62%	-3.97%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Mativ and Magnera, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mativ	0	1	0	0	2.00
Magnera	0	0	1	0	3.00

Mativ presently has a consensus target price of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 120.64%. Magnera has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.23%. Given Mativ’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mativ is more favorable than Magnera.

Volatility & Risk

Mativ has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Magnera has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mativ and Magnera”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mativ	$1.98 billion	0.19	-$309.50 million	($0.90)	-7.81
Magnera	$1.31 billion	0.57	-$60.00 million	($18.34)	-1.15

Magnera has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Mativ. Mativ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Magnera, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Mativ

Mativ Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials manufactures and sells various engineered polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens for the filtration, protective solutions, release liners, and healthcare end-markets. This segment sells its products directly, as well as through sales agents and distributors. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment produces packaging and specialty paper products. This segment provides premium packaging products that are used for wine, spirits and beer labels, folding cartons, box wrap, bags, hang tags, and stored value cards servicing retail, cosmetics, spirits, and electronics end-use markets; and premium papers, which are used in commercial printing services, advertising collateral, stationery, corporate identity packages and brochures, direct mail, business cards, and other uses. It also offers branded paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. This segment distributes its products through authorized paper distributors, converters, retailers, and specialty business converters, as well as directly to end-users. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

About Magnera

Magnera’s purpose is to better the world with new possibilities made real. By continuously co-creating and innovating with our partners, we develop original material solutions that make a brighter future possible. With a breadth of technologies and a passion for what we create, Magnera’s solutions propel our customers’ goals forward and solve end-users’ problems, every day.