Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) and Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Head to Head Comparison

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) and Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Air Products and Chemicals and Basf, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Products and Chemicals	1	4	9	1	2.67
Basf	2	2	2	0	2.00

Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus target price of $313.75, suggesting a potential upside of 20.19%. Given Air Products and Chemicals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Air Products and Chemicals is more favorable than Basf.

Risk & Volatility

Air Products and Chemicals has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Basf has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and Basf’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Products and Chemicals	12.86%	15.11%	6.79%
Basf	0.43%	6.88%	3.09%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and Basf”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Products and Chemicals	$12.04 billion	4.83	$3.83 billion	($1.78)	-146.66
Basf	$70.63 billion	0.66	$1.40 billion	$0.10	130.00

Air Products and Chemicals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Basf. Air Products and Chemicals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Basf, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Air Products and Chemicals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Basf pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Air Products and Chemicals pays out -402.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Basf pays out 440.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Air Products and Chemicals has increased its dividend for 50 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.7% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Basf shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Air Products and Chemicals beats Basf on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals. It also designs and manufactures equipment for air separation, hydrocarbon recovery and purification, natural gas liquefaction, and liquid helium and liquid hydrogen transport and storage. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.