Financial Contrast: Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) & Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH)

Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH) and Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Tantech has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huntsman has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Tantech and Huntsman’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tantech	N/A	N/A	N/A
Huntsman	-5.69%	-3.26%	-1.41%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Tantech and Huntsman”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tantech	$42.94 million	0.00	-$3.24 million	N/A	N/A
Huntsman	$5.78 billion	0.35	-$189.00 million	($1.90)	-6.18

Tantech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Huntsman.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.0% of Tantech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Huntsman shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Tantech shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Huntsman shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Tantech and Huntsman, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tantech	1	0	0	0	1.00
Huntsman	4	8	2	0	1.86

Huntsman has a consensus target price of $10.23, suggesting a potential downside of 12.86%. Given Huntsman’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Huntsman is more favorable than Tantech.

Summary

Huntsman beats Tantech on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tantech

Tantech Holdings Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures bamboo-based charcoal products for industrial energy, household cooking, heating, purification, agricultural, and cleaning applications in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Consumer Products, Electric Vehicles, and Biodegradable Packaging. It provides pressed and formed charcoal briquettes for use in grills, incense burners, and other applications under the Algold brand. The company also offers Charcoal Doctor branded products, such as air purifiers and humidifiers, automotive accessories for air purification, underfloor humidity control products, pillows and mattresses, wardrobe deodorizers, mouse pads and wrist mats, refrigerator deodorants, charcoal toilet cleaner disks, liquid charcoal cleaners, shoe insoles, and decorative charcoal gifts. In addition, it provides bamboo vinegar, a liquid byproduct for use in disinfectants, detergents, lotions, specialized soaps, toilet cleaners, and fertilizers, as well as in various agricultural applications; and trades in charcoal products. Further, the company develops and sells electric buses, electric logistics cars, and specialty electric vehicles, such as brushless cleaning cars, electric cleaning cars, special emergency vehicles, and funeral cars; and solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, auto parts, and electric control systems. It is also involved in the biodegradable packaging and supply chain businesses, as well as provides commercial factoring services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Lishui, the People's Republic of China.

About Huntsman

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products. The Performance Products segment manufactures amines, such as polyetheramines, ethyleneamines, DGA Agent, JEFFCAT catalysts, and E-GRADE specialty amines and carbonates; and maleic anhydrides. The Advanced Materials segment offers epoxy, phenoxy, acrylic, polyurethane, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-based polymer formulations; and thermoset resins, curing and toughening agents, and carbon nanomaterials. The company provides pre-and post-sales technical service support to customers. Its products are used in a range of applications, including adhesives, aerospace, automotive, construction products, durable and non-durable consumer products, electronics, insulation, packaging, coatings and construction, power generation, and refining, as well as serves the elastomers, insulation, footwear, furniture, industrial, oil and gas, liquid natural gas transport, printed circuit boards, consumer, appliances, electrical power transmission and distribution, recreational sports equipment, and medical appliances markets. The company sells its products through a network of distributors and agents. Huntsman Corporation was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.