Analyzing Celanese (NYSE:CE) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV)

Celanese (NYSE:CE) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.9% of Celanese shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Mativ shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Celanese shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Mativ shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Celanese	-12.15%	8.75%	1.94%
Mativ	-16.98%	9.79%	2.08%

Dividends

Celanese pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Mativ pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Celanese pays out -1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mativ pays out -6.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Mativ has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Mativ is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Celanese and Mativ, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Celanese	1	9	9	0	2.42
Mativ	1	1	0	0	1.50

Celanese currently has a consensus target price of $64.71, suggesting a potential downside of 6.44%. Given Celanese’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Celanese is more favorable than Mativ.

Risk & Volatility

Celanese has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mativ has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Celanese	$9.54 billion	0.79	-$1.17 billion	($10.60)	-6.52
Mativ	$1.99 billion	0.26	-$337.40 million	($6.26)	-1.50

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

Summary

Mativ beats Celanese on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics. The Acetyl Chain segment produces and supplies acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomers, acetic anhydride, and acetate esters that are used as starting materials for colorants, paints, adhesives, coatings, and pharmaceuticals; and organic solvents and intermediates for pharmaceutical, agricultural, and chemical products. It also offers vinyl acetate-based emulsions for use in paints and coatings, adhesives, construction, glass fiber, textiles, and paper applications; and ethylene vinyl acetate resins and compounds, as well as low-density polyethylene for use in flexible packaging films, lamination film products, hot melt adhesives, automotive parts, and carpeting applications. In addition, it provides redispersible powders (RDP) for use in construction applications, including flooring, plasters, insulation, tiling, and waterproofing. Celanese Corporation was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

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.