Contrasting Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) & Corteva (NYSE:CTVA)

Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) and Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Lsb Industries has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corteva has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Lsb Industries and Corteva, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lsb Industries	0	5	1	0	2.17
Corteva	1	6	16	0	2.65

Lsb Industries currently has a consensus price target of $13.38, indicating a potential upside of 16.10%. Corteva has a consensus price target of $60.59, indicating a potential upside of 422.38%. Given Corteva’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Corteva is more favorable than Lsb Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Lsb Industries and Corteva’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lsb Industries	6.95%	8.51%	3.82%
Corteva	5.66%	10.18%	6.00%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.7% of Lsb Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Corteva shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lsb Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Corteva shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lsb Industries and Corteva”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lsb Industries	$661.23 million	1.25	$24.61 million	$0.62	18.58
Corteva	$17.40 billion	0.44	$1.09 billion	$1.51	7.68

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

Summary

Corteva beats Lsb Industries on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lsb Industries

LSB Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of chemical products. The company provides nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as ammonia, fertilizer grade high density ammonium nitrate (HDAN), and urea ammonia nitrate for fertilizer for corn, pastures, and other crops, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer blends application. It also offers high purity and commercial grade ammonia, high purity ammonium nitrate, sulfuric acids, mixed nitrating acids, carbon dioxide, and diesel exhaust fluids, as well as concentrated, and blended and regular nitric acids for various applications, including semiconductor, nylon, and polyurethane intermediates, ammonium nitrate, and metal processing; chemical feedstocks, emissions abatement, water treatments, and refrigerants; pulp and paper, aluminum, water treatment, metals, and vanadium processing; abatement for diesel vehicles; and food refrigeration, dry ice, and enhanced oil recovery. In addition, the company provides industrial grade and low density ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate for explosives mining, quarries, and other blasting activities. It sells its products through distributors, as well as directly to end customers in the United States and other parts of North America. The company serves to the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. LSB Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc. operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics. This segment also provides digital solutions that assist farmer decision-making with a view to optimize product selection, and maximize yield and profitability. The Crop Protection segment offers products that protect against weeds, insects and other pests, and diseases, as well as enhances crop health above and below ground through nitrogen management and seed-applied technologies. This segment provides herbicides, insecticides, nitrogen stabilizers, and pasture and range management herbicides. It serves agricultural input industry. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Corteva, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.