Avient (NYSE:AVNT) vs. Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Head to Head Comparison

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) and Avient (NYSE:AVNT) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.5% of Methanex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Avient shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Methanex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Avient shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Methanex has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avient has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Methanex and Avient, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Methanex	0	3	9	1	2.85
Avient	0	5	4	1	2.60

Methanex currently has a consensus price target of $46.55, suggesting a potential upside of 16.77%. Avient has a consensus price target of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 34.56%. Given Avient’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Avient is more favorable than Methanex.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Methanex and Avient”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Methanex	$3.57 billion	0.86	$163.99 million	$2.95	13.51
Avient	$3.24 billion	0.89	$169.50 million	$1.23	25.68

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

Profitability

This table compares Methanex and Avient’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Methanex	5.97%	9.07%	3.41%
Avient	3.49%	10.75%	4.25%

Dividends

Methanex pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Avient pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Methanex pays out 25.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avient pays out 89.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Methanex has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Avient has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Avient beats Methanex on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities. The company owns and manages a fleet of approximately 30 ocean-going vessels. It serves chemical and petrochemical producers. Methanex Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Avient

Avient Corporation operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Color, Additives and Inks; and Specialty Engineered Materials. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, and specialty inks; custom-formulated liquid system, such as polyester, vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane, and silicone; and proprietary inks. Its products are used in medical and pharmaceutical devices, food packaging, personal care and cosmetics, transportation, building products, wire and cable, recreational and athletic apparel, construction and filtration, outdoor furniture, healthcare, textiles and appliances, and industrial markets. The Specialty Engineered Materials segment provides specialty polymer formulations, services, and solutions for designers, assemblers, and processors of thermoplastic materials. It sells its products through direct sales personnel, distributors, and commissioned sales agents. The company was formerly known as PolyOne Corporation and changed its name to Avient Corporation in June 2020. Avient Corporation was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Avon Lake, Ohio.