Financial Survey: American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) and Yara International ASA (OTCMKTS:YARIY)

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) and Yara International ASA (OTCMKTS:YARIY) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares American Vanguard and Yara International ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Vanguard	-10.70%	-9.05%	-2.78%
Yara International ASA	9.11%	16.77%	8.53%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for American Vanguard and Yara International ASA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Vanguard	1	0	0	0	1.00
Yara International ASA	1	4	0	2	2.43

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.0% of American Vanguard shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Yara International ASA shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of American Vanguard shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

American Vanguard has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Yara International ASA has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Vanguard and Yara International ASA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Vanguard	$515.11 million	0.11	-$49.88 million	($1.90)	-0.98
Yara International ASA	$15.71 billion	0.74	$1.37 billion	$3.01	7.61

Yara International ASA has higher revenue and earnings than American Vanguard. American Vanguard is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Yara International ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Yara International ASA beats American Vanguard on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals for agricultural, commercial, and consumer uses in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and formulates chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, soil health, plant nutrition, molluscicides, growth regulators, soil fumigants, and biorationals in liquid, powder, and granular forms for crops, turf and ornamental plants, and human and animal health protection. The company also markets, sells, and distributes end-use chemical and biological products for crop applications; and distributes chemicals for turf and ornamental markets. It distributes its products through national distribution companies, and buying groups or co-operatives; and through sales offices, sales force executives, sales agents, and wholly owned distributors. American Vanguard Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

About Yara International ASA

Yara International ASA provides crop nutrition and industrial solutions in Norway, European Union, Europe, Africa, Asia, North and Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand. The company offers ammonium- and urea-based fertilizers; compound fertilizers that contain nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; coatings; biostimulants; organic-based fertilizers; green fertilizers are nitrate-based mineral fertilizers, as well as foliar and fertigation solutions; and nitrate, calcium nitrate, micronutrient, and fertigation and urea fertilizers. It also offers digital solutions, such as variable rate application solutions; N-Sensor, a tractor-mounted hardware; N-Tester, a handheld nitrogen measurement tool; YaraFX Insight, an agricultural API; and Atfarm, a digital toolbox for farmer. The company sells its products under YaraBela, YaraMila, YaraLiva, YaraVita, YaraRega, YaraTera, YaraSuna, and YaraVera and brands. Yara International ASA was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.