Contrasting Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) & Chemours (NYSE:CC)

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

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 92.2%. Chemours pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. 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.

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%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Standard Lithium and Chemours, as provided by MarketBeat.

	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 price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 61.29%. Chemours has a consensus price target of $24.88, suggesting a potential upside of 25.69%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Chemours.

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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Standard Lithium and Chemours”s top-line 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	3.74
Chemours	$5.75 billion	0.51	-$238.00 million	$0.50	39.58

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.

Volatility and Risk

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

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.