Critical Contrast: Sherritt International (SHERF) and Its Competitors

Profitability

This table compares Sherritt International and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sherritt International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sherritt International Competitors	-1,174,432,924,478,955,600.00%	48.38%	-2.67%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.5% of Sherritt International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.1% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are owned by institutional investors. 17.6% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sherritt International and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sherritt International	N/A	N/A	-0.04
Sherritt International Competitors	$4.96 billion	$268.50 million	-20.55

Sherritt International’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Sherritt International. Sherritt International is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Sherritt International pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 75.5%. Sherritt International pays out -2.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.8% and pay out 6.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherritt International is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Sherritt International beats its peers on 6 of the 9 factors compared.

Sherritt International Company Profile

Sherritt International Corporation engages in the mining, processing, refining, and sale of nickel and cobalt in North America, Cuba, Europe, Asia, Australia, and internationally. It operates through Metals, Power, Technologies, Oil and Gas, and Corporate segments. The company also produces and sells agricultural fertilizers, such as anhydrous ammonia, granular ammonium sulfate, and crystalline ammonium sulfate; and sulfuric acid, zinc sulfides, and copper sulfides. In addition, it constructs and operates power generation facilities that provide electricity in Cuba. Further, the company offers technical support, process optimization, and technology development services; and ancillary drilling services. Its products are used in stainless steel, specialty steel, chemical, and welding applications. Sherritt International Corporation was incorporated in 1927 and is based in Toronto, Canada.