Head to Head Review: Orion (NYSE:OEC) vs. H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL)

Orion (NYSE:OEC) and H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Orion and H. B. Fuller, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orion	3	2	0	0	1.40
H. B. Fuller	0	2	3	1	2.83

Orion presently has a consensus price target of $5.92, suggesting a potential upside of 4.44%. H. B. Fuller has a consensus price target of $67.86, suggesting a potential upside of 17.04%. Given H. B. Fuller’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe H. B. Fuller is more favorable than Orion.

Dividends

Orion pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. H. B. Fuller pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Orion pays out -5.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. H. B. Fuller pays out 30.1% 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. H. B. Fuller has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years. H. B. Fuller is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Orion and H. B. Fuller”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orion	$1.81 billion	0.18	-$70.10 million	($1.60)	-3.54
H. B. Fuller	$3.47 billion	0.90	$151.97 million	$3.26	17.78

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

Profitability

This table compares Orion and H. B. Fuller’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orion	-4.98%	2.23%	0.47%
H. B. Fuller	5.29%	12.18%	4.73%

Volatility and Risk

Orion has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, H. B. Fuller has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.3% of Orion shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of H. B. Fuller shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Orion shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of H. B. Fuller shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

H. B. Fuller beats Orion on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orion

Orion S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings. It also provides rubber carbon black products for applications in mechanical rubber goods, as well as in tires under the ECORAX brand name; and acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. It operates in the United States, Brazil, rest of the Americas, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France, Rest of EMEA, China, the Republic of Korea, and rest of Asia. The company was formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. and changed its name to Orion S.A. in June 2023. Orion S.A. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg.

About H. B. Fuller

H.B. Fuller Company, together with its subsidiaries, formulates, manufactures, and markets adhesives, sealants, coatings, polymers, tapes, encapsulants, additives, and other specialty chemical products. It operates through three segments: Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives; Engineering Adhesives; and Construction Adhesives. The Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives segment produces and supplies specialty industrial adhesives, such as thermoplastic, thermoset, reactive, water-based, and solvent-based products for applications in various markets, including packaging, converting, nonwoven and hygiene, and health and beauty. The Engineering Adhesives segment produces and supplies high performance industrial adhesives comprising reactive, light cure, two-part liquids, polyurethane, silicone, film, and fast cure products to the durable assembly, performance wood and textile, transportation, electronics, clean energy, aerospace and defense, appliance, heavy machinery, and insulating glass markets. The Construction Adhesives segment provides products used for tile setting, commercial roofing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and insulation applications, as well as caulks and sealants for the consumer market and professional trade. The company sells its products directly to customers, as well as through distributors and retailers in the Americas, Europe, India, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. H.B. Fuller Company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.