Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) versus Olin (NYSE:OLN) Financial Contrast

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) and Olin (NYSE:OLN) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Dividends

Basf pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Olin pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Basf pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Olin pays out -54.4% 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. Olin is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Basf has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Olin has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Basf	$67.48 billion	0.79	$1.83 billion	$1.93	7.75
Olin	$6.74 billion	0.30	-$100.50 million	($1.47)	-12.02

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Basf and Olin, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Basf	1	4	3	1	2.44
Olin	3	12	1	0	1.88

Olin has a consensus price target of $20.64, indicating a potential upside of 16.86%. Given Olin’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Olin is more favorable than Basf.

Profitability

This table compares Basf and Olin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Basf	9.11%	6.92%	3.07%
Olin	-2.08%	-4.76%	-1.17%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Basf shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Olin shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Olin shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Basf beats Olin on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.

About Olin

Olin Corporation manufactures and distributes chemical products in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls; Epoxy; and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment offers chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomers, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products, potassium hydroxide, and chlorinated organics intermediates and solvents. The Epoxy segment provides Allylics, such as allyl chloride, epichlorohydrin, and glycerin; aromatics, including acetone, bisphenol, cumene, and phenol; liquid and solid epoxy resins; and converted epoxy resins and additives. The Winchester segment offers sporting ammunition products, including shotshells, small caliber centerfire, and rimfire ammunition products for hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies; small caliber military ammunition products for use in infantry and mounted weapons; and industrial products comprising gauge loads and powder-actuated tool loads for maintenance applications in power and concrete industries, and powder-actuated tools in construction industry. The company markets its products through its sales force, as well as directly to various industrial customers, mass merchants, retailers, wholesalers, gun clubs, other distributors, and the U.S. Government and its prime contractors. Olin Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is based in Clayton, Missouri.