Reviewing Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP)

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innospec	$1.95 billion	1.49	$139.10 million	$5.73	20.30
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.59	2.81

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innospec	7.68%	13.33%	9.18%
Standard Lithium	N/A	-11.52%	-10.25%

Dividends

Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 120.8%. Innospec pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Standard Lithium pays out 339.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Innospec shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Innospec and Standard Lithium, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innospec	0	0	0	0	0.00
Standard Lithium	0	0	2	0	3.00

Standard Lithium has a consensus price target of $3.95, indicating a potential upside of 138.67%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Innospec.

Volatility and Risk

Innospec has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Innospec beats Standard Lithium on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Innospec

Innospec Inc. develops, manufactures, blends, markets, and supplies specialty chemicals in the United States, rest of North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company's Fuel Specialties segment offers a range of specialty chemical products that are used as additives in additives in diesel, jet, marine, fuel oil and other fuels. This segment's products are used in the operation of commercial trucking, marine and aviation engines, power station generators, heating oil, and other industrial machinery applications. Its Performance Chemicals segment provides technology-based solutions for its customers' processes or products that focuses on the personal care, home care, agrochemical, construction, mining, and other industrial markets. The company's Oilfield Services segment develops and markets chemical solutions for drilling, completion, fracturing, stimulation, and completion operations; and products for oil and gas production. It sells its products primarily to oil and gas exploration and production companies, oil refineries, fuel manufacturers and users, personal care and home care companies, formulators of agrochemical, and other chemical and industrial companies. The company was formerly known as Octel Corp. and changed its name to Innospec Inc. in January 2006. Innospec Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

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.