Financial Contrast: Avient (NYSE:AVNT) versus Incitec Pivot (OTCMKTS:INCZY)

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) and Incitec Pivot (OTCMKTS:INCZY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.5% of Avient shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Incitec Pivot shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Avient shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Avient and Incitec Pivot, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avient	0	0	4	0	3.00
Incitec Pivot	0	0	0	0	N/A

Avient presently has a consensus price target of $51.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.16%. Given Avient’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Avient is more favorable than Incitec Pivot.

Profitability

This table compares Avient and Incitec Pivot’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avient	3.70%	10.34%	4.09%
Incitec Pivot	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Avient and Incitec Pivot”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avient	$3.14 billion	1.41	$75.70 million	$1.27	38.20
Incitec Pivot	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.15	13.33

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

Dividends

Avient pays an annual dividend of $1.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Incitec Pivot pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Avient pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Incitec Pivot pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avient has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Incitec Pivot is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Avient beats Incitec Pivot on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avient

Avient Corporation operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Color, Additives and Inks; and Specialty Engineered Materials. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, and specialty inks; custom-formulated liquid system, such as polyester, vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane, and silicone; and proprietary inks. Its products are used in medical and pharmaceutical devices, food packaging, personal care and cosmetics, transportation, building products, wire and cable, recreational and athletic apparel, construction and filtration, outdoor furniture, healthcare, textiles and appliances, and industrial markets. The Specialty Engineered Materials segment provides specialty polymer formulations, services, and solutions for designers, assemblers, and processors of thermoplastic materials. It sells its products through direct sales personnel, distributors, and commissioned sales agents. The company was formerly known as PolyOne Corporation and changed its name to Avient Corporation in June 2020. Avient Corporation was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Avon Lake, Ohio.

About Incitec Pivot

Incitec Pivot Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes industrial explosives, industrial chemicals, and fertilizers in Australia, the United States, the Asia Pacific, Turkey, France, and internationally. It offers ammonium nitrate, nitrogen-based fertilizer, ammonia, di/mono-ammonium phosphate, and single super phosphate. The company also manufactures and sells industrial explosives, and related products and services to mining, quarrying, and construction industries. In addition, it offers industrial chemicals to the agriculture and specialist industries. The company was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Southbank, Australia.