Comparing Venator Materials (NYSE:VNTRQ) and Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGF)

Brenntag (OTCMKTS:BNTGF) and Venator Materials (NYSE:VNTRQ) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Brenntag and Venator Materials’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brenntag	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.32	34.52
Venator Materials	$2.17 billion	33.24	-$188.00 million	($3.28)	-205.79

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

Profitability

This table compares Brenntag and Venator Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brenntag	N/A	N/A	N/A
Venator Materials	-18.19%	-47.15%	-8.22%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.2% of Brenntag shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.5% of Venator Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 41.7% of Venator Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Brenntag and Venator Materials, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brenntag	0	0	0	0	N/A
Venator Materials	0	0	0	0	N/A

Summary

Brenntag beats Venator Materials on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brenntag

Brenntag SE purchases and supplies various industrial and specialty chemicals, and ingredients in Germany, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties. It provides just-in-time delivery, product mixing, blending, repackaging, inventory management, and drum return handling. The company serves customers in various end-market industries, including nutrition, pharma, personal care, water treatment, and lubricants; and home, industrial, and institutional markets, as well as coatings and constructions, polymers, and rubber industries. The company was founded in 1874 and is based in Essen, Germany.

About Venator Materials

Venator Materials PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets chemical products in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in two segments, Titanium Dioxide and Performance Additives. The Titanium Dioxide segment offers titanium dioxide (TiO2), such as rutile, anatase, and ultrafine TiO2 products for use in coatings, printing inks, PVC window frames, plastic masterbatches, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, polyester and polyamide fibers, catalysts, and cosmetics products. The Performance Additives segment provides barium and zinc additives for use in coatings, films, and paper and glass fiber reinforced plastics; and colored inorganic pigments comprising iron oxides, ultramarines, specialty inorganic chemicals, and driers for construction, coatings, plastics, cosmetics, inks, catalyst, and laminates. This segment also offers wood protection chemicals for use in residential and commercial applications to prolong the life through protection from decay, fungal, and insect attack; timber treatment chemicals for use in decking, fencing, and other residential outdoor wood structures; and industrial construction products for use in telephone poles, and salt water piers and pilings. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Stockton-On-Tees, the United Kingdom. On May 14, 2023, Venator Materials PLC, along with its affiliates filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.