Reviewing Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) and PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG)

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) and Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares PPG Industries and Flotek Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PPG Industries	9.57%	21.07%	7.80%
Flotek Industries	12.97%	21.57%	10.89%

Volatility & Risk

PPG Industries has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flotek Industries has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for PPG Industries and Flotek Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PPG Industries	0	9	8	0	2.47
Flotek Industries	0	1	4	0	2.80

PPG Industries currently has a consensus price target of $126.06, suggesting a potential upside of 18.27%. Flotek Industries has a consensus price target of $34.67, suggesting a potential upside of 15.03%. Given PPG Industries’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe PPG Industries is more favorable than Flotek Industries.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.9% of PPG Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.9% of Flotek Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of PPG Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Flotek Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PPG Industries and Flotek Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PPG Industries	$15.88 billion	1.49	$1.58 billion	$6.98	15.27
Flotek Industries	$292.97 million	3.73	$30.53 million	$0.99	30.44

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

Summary

Flotek Industries beats PPG Industries on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc. manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft. The Industrial Coatings segment offers coatings, adhesives and sealants, and metal pretreatments, as well as services and coatings applications for appliances, agricultural and construction equipment, consumer electronics, automotive parts and accessories, building products, kitchenware, and transportation vehicles and other finished products; and on-site coatings services. It also provides coatings for metal cans, closures, plastic and aluminum tubes for food, beverage and personal care, promotional, and specialty packaging; amorphous precipitated silica for tire, battery separator, and other end-uses; TESLIN substrates for labels, e-passports, drivers' licenses, breathable membranes, and loyalty and identification cards; and organic light emitting diode materials, displays and lighting lens materials, optical lenses, color-change products, and photochromic dyes. PPG Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1883 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Flotek Industries

Flotek Industries, Inc. operates as a technology-driven green chemistry and data company that serves customers across industrial and commercial markets in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Chemistry Technologies (CT) and Data Analytics (DA). The CT segment designs, develops, manufactures, packages, distributes, delivers, and markets green specialty chemicals that enhance the profitability of hydrocarbon producers, as well as green specialty chemistries, and logistics and technology services. This segment primarily serves integrated oil and gas, oilfield services, independent oil and gas, national and state-owned oil, geothermal energy, solar energy, and alternative energy companies. The DA segment designs, develops, produces, sells, and supports equipment and services that create and provide valuable information on the composition and properties of energy customers' hydrocarbon fluids. It sells its products directly through a mix of in-house sales professionals, as well as contractual agency agreements. Flotek Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.