Financial Comparison: Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) versus Chemours (NYSE:CC)

Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) and Chemours (NYSE:CC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Arkema pays an annual dividend of $3.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Chemours pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Arkema pays out 145.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chemours pays out -15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Arkema has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemours has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.3% of Chemours shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Chemours shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Arkema and Chemours”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arkema	$10.33 billion	0.46	$383.06 million	$2.08	29.95
Chemours	$5.78 billion	0.34	$86.00 million	($2.22)	-5.83

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Arkema and Chemours, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arkema	2	3	1	0	1.83
Chemours	2	4	5	0	2.27

Chemours has a consensus target price of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.41%. Given Chemours’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Chemours is more favorable than Arkema.

Profitability

This table compares Arkema and Chemours’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arkema	1.55%	5.15%	2.70%
Chemours	-5.70%	35.27%	2.03%

About Arkema

Arkema S.A. manufactures and sells specialty chemicals and advanced materials worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials and Coating Solutions, and Intermediates. The Adhesive Solutions segment provides solutions for construction, renovation of buildings, DIY, durable goods, and packaging and non-woven applications; and supplies technologies used in building activities for businesses and individuals, including sealants, tiles, flooring adhesives and waterproofing systems, and technologies used in industry, which include automotive, textiles, glazing, flexible and rigid packaging, and hygiene markets. This segment also offers performance polymers, such as specialty polyamides, PVDF, polyimides, fluorospecialties, and polyetherketoneketone; and performance additives which includes molecular sieves, organic peroxides, thiochemicals, and hydrogen peroxide. The Advance Materials and Coating Solutions segment offers coating solutions, including comprising EU/US acrylics and coating resins; coating additives, such as sartomer photocure resins and coatex rheology additives. This segment also provides decorative paints, industrial coatings, and adhesives; and solutions for applications in the paper, superabsorbent, water treatment and oil and gas extraction, and 3D printing and electronics industries. The Intermediates segment provides fluorogases and acrylics; and industrial intermediate chemicals used in construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, automotive, coatings, and water treatment sectors. Arkema S.A. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Colombes, France.

About Chemours

The Chemours Company provides performance chemicals in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials. The Titanium Technologies segment provides TiO2 pigment under the Ti-Pure brand for delivering whiteness, brightness, opacity, durability, efficiency, and protection in various of applications, such as architectural and industrial coatings, flexible and rigid plastic packaging, polyvinylchloride, laminate papers used for furniture and building materials, coated paper, and coated paperboard used for packaging. The Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment offers of refrigerants, thermal management solutions, propellants, foam blowing agents, and specialty solvents. The Advanced Performance Materials segment products portfolio includes various industrial resins, specialty products, membranes, and coatings for electronics, communications, transportation, wire and cable, energy, oil and gas, and medical, and other applications under the eflon, Viton, Krytox, and Nafion brands. The company sells its products through direct and indirect channels, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The Chemours Company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.