Critical Analysis: Solesence (SLSN) and The Competition

Solesence (NASDAQ:SLSN) is one of 55 publicly-traded companies in the “Personal Care Products” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Solesence to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.2% of Solesence shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.7% of shares of all “Personal Care Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Solesence shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.2% of shares of all “Personal Care Products” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Solesence and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solesence	$62.06 million	$1.79 million	83.03
Solesence Competitors	$7.90 billion	$1.08 billion	6.43

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

Volatility & Risk

Solesence has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solesence’s competitors have a beta of 0.81, suggesting that their average share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Solesence and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solesence	1	0	0	0	1.00
Solesence Competitors	830	2774	3552	210	2.43

As a group, “Personal Care Products” companies have a potential downside of 11.75%. Given Solesence’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Solesence has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Solesence and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solesence	1.56%	5.39%	1.78%
Solesence Competitors	-5.79%	-111.84%	0.08%

Summary

Solesence competitors beat Solesence on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Solesence

Nanophase Technologies Corporation provides engineered materials, formulation development, and commercial manufacturing with an integrated family of technologies in the United States. It offers surface engineered zinc oxide and titanium dioxide for sunscreens and personal care products; fully formulated cosmetics, sun care, and skin care under the Solésence brand name; and advanced materials products, such as architectural coatings, industrial coatings, abrasion-resistant additives, plastics additives, medical diagnostics, and various surface finishing technologies applications. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Romeoville, Illinois.