Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) & Mitsubishi Chemical (OTCMKTS:MTLHY) Head-To-Head Contrast

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mitsubishi Chemical and Lsb Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mitsubishi Chemical	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lsb Industries	0	5	0	0	2.00

Lsb Industries has a consensus target price of $15.33, suggesting a potential upside of 28.36%. Given Lsb Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lsb Industries is more favorable than Mitsubishi Chemical.

Volatility & Risk

Mitsubishi Chemical has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lsb Industries has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.7% of Lsb Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Lsb Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Mitsubishi Chemical and Lsb Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mitsubishi Chemical	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lsb Industries	7.16%	8.91%	3.96%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mitsubishi Chemical and Lsb Industries”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mitsubishi Chemical	$24.61 billion	0.41	$78.58 million	$0.61	56.89
Lsb Industries	$615.21 million	1.40	$24.61 million	$0.63	18.96

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

Summary

Lsb Industries beats Mitsubishi Chemical on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mitsubishi Chemical

Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation provides performance products, chemicals, industrial gases, health care products, and other products in Japan and internationally. It operates in five segments: Specialty Materials, Industrial Gases, Health Care, MMA, and Basic Materials. The Specialty Materials segment offers performance polymers, soarnol, gohsenol, sustainable polymers, and engineering plastics; coating materials, additives, and fines; packaging, industrial and medical, acetyl, and polyester films; engineering shapes and solutions, carbon fiber and composite materials, and fibers; aqua, life, and infrastructure solutions; and semiconductor, electronics, and battery materials. The Industrial Gases segment provides industrial gases. The Health Care segment offers ethical pharmaceuticals. The MMA segment provides methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The Basic Materials segment offers basic petrochemicals, polyolefins, and basic chemical derivatives, as well as carbon products. The company provides engineering, transportation, and warehousing services. Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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.