Head-To-Head Contrast: Voestalpine (OTCMKTS:VLPNY) versus Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS)

Voestalpine (OTCMKTS:VLPNY) and Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Voestalpine and Carpenter Technology”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Voestalpine	$16.90 billion	0.28	$164.90 million	$0.20	27.50
Carpenter Technology	$2.76 billion	4.76	$186.50 million	$7.06	37.37

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

Profitability

This table compares Voestalpine and Carpenter Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Voestalpine	0.99%	2.08%	0.99%
Carpenter Technology	12.26%	21.16%	10.85%

Volatility & Risk

Voestalpine has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carpenter Technology has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Voestalpine pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Carpenter Technology pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Voestalpine pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Carpenter Technology pays out 11.3% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Voestalpine and Carpenter Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Voestalpine	0	2	0	0	2.00
Carpenter Technology	0	1	4	0	2.80

Carpenter Technology has a consensus price target of $278.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.50%. Given Carpenter Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Carpenter Technology is more favorable than Voestalpine.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.0% of Carpenter Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Carpenter Technology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Carpenter Technology beats Voestalpine on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Voestalpine

Voestalpine AG processes, develops, manufactures, and sells steel products in Austria, European Union, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Steel, High Performance Metals, Metal Engineering, Metal Forming, and Other. The Steel division produces hot and cold-rolled steel strips, as well as electrogalvanized, hot-dip galvanized, and organically coated steel strips; and heavy plates for the energy sector, as well as turbine casings for automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The High Performance Metals segment offers special alloys for the oil and natural gas, aerospace, and energy engineering industries; tool manufacturing, component processing, heat treatment, and coating services; and warehousing and preprocessing of special steels, as well as services, including logistics, distribution, and processing for the oil and natural gas industries for automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, aerospace, mechanical engineering, and others. The Metal Engineering division offers rails and turnout products, rod and drawn wires, seamless tubes, and welding consumables and machinery; rails and digital monitoring systems; and services for rail infrastructure. This segment serves railway systems, automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The Metal Forming division manufactures special tubes and sections, and precision strip steel products, as well as pre-finished system components made from pressed, stamped, and roll-profiled parts for use in automotive, white goods/consumer goods, building/construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and others. The company is headquartered in Linz, Austria.

About Carpenter Technology

Carpenter Technology Corporation engages in the manufacture, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mexico, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products. The company offers specialty alloys, including titanium alloys, powder metals, stainless steels, alloy steels, and tool steels, as well as additives, and metal powders and parts. It serves to aerospace, defense, medical, transportation, energy, industrial, and consumer markets. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.