Head-To-Head Analysis: Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) vs. Chemours (NYSE:CC)

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Chemours (NYSE:CC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Standard Lithium and Chemours, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00
Chemours	0	5	3	0	2.38

Standard Lithium currently has a consensus target price of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 52.84%. Chemours has a consensus target price of $24.88, suggesting a potential upside of 21.64%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Chemours.

Profitability

This table compares Standard Lithium and Chemours’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standard Lithium	N/A	-15.67%	-14.05%
Chemours	1.34%	29.48%	2.74%

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 87.3%. Chemours pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Standard Lithium pays out 344.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chemours pays out 200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.79, suggesting that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemours has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Standard Lithium and Chemours”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.58	3.95
Chemours	$6.03 billion	0.51	-$238.00 million	$0.50	40.90

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.3% of Chemours shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Chemours shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Chemours beats Standard Lithium on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Chemours

The Chemours Company provides performance chemicals in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials. The Titanium Technologies segment provides TiO2 pigment under the Ti-Pure brand for delivering whiteness, brightness, opacity, durability, efficiency, and protection in various of applications, such as architectural and industrial coatings, flexible and rigid plastic packaging, polyvinylchloride, laminate papers used for furniture and building materials, coated paper, and coated paperboard used for packaging. The Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment offers of refrigerants, thermal management solutions, propellants, foam blowing agents, and specialty solvents. The Advanced Performance Materials segment products portfolio includes various industrial resins, specialty products, membranes, and coatings for electronics, communications, transportation, wire and cable, energy, oil and gas, and medical, and other applications under the eflon, Viton, Krytox, and Nafion brands. The company sells its products through direct and indirect channels, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The Chemours Company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.