Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) & Enlightify (NYSE:ENFY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Enlightify (NYSE:ENFY) and Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Enlightify shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.5% of Methanex shares are held by institutional investors. 14.2% of Enlightify shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Methanex shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Enlightify and Methanex, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enlightify	1	0	0	0	1.00
Methanex	0	3	9	1	2.85

Methanex has a consensus price target of $46.55, indicating a potential upside of 15.86%. Given Methanex’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Methanex is more favorable than Enlightify.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Enlightify and Methanex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enlightify	$79.21 million	0.02	-$28.41 million	($0.86)	-0.10
Methanex	$3.72 billion	0.84	$163.99 million	$2.95	13.62

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

Profitability

This table compares Enlightify and Methanex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enlightify	-22.98%	-18.78%	-11.03%
Methanex	5.97%	9.07%	3.41%

Volatility and Risk

Enlightify has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Methanex has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Methanex beats Enlightify on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enlightify

Enlightify, Inc. engages in the research, development, production, and sale of various types of fertilizers and agricultural products. It operates through the following segments: Jinong, Gufeng, and Yuxing. The Jinong segment includes fertilizer products, with focus on humic acid-based compound fertilizer. The Gufeng segment refers to the compound fertilizer, blended fertilizer, organic compound fertilizer, slow-release fertilizers, highly concentrated water-soluble fertilizers, and mixed organic-inorganic compound fertilizer. The Yuxing segment develops and produces agricultural products, such as top-grade fruits, vegetables, flowers, and colored seedlings. The company was founded by Tao Li on February 6, 1987 and is headquartered in Xi’an, China.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities. The company owns and manages a fleet of approximately 30 ocean-going vessels. It serves chemical and petrochemical producers. Methanex Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.