Critical Review: Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) & Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI)

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ecovyst	8.14%	7.88%	3.04%
Standard Lithium	N/A	-15.67%	-14.05%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ecovyst and Standard Lithium, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ecovyst	0	0	3	0	3.00
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00

Ecovyst currently has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 67.56%. Standard Lithium has a consensus target price of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 66.67%. Given Ecovyst’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Ecovyst is more favorable than Standard Lithium.

Risk & Volatility

Ecovyst has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.89, meaning that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ecovyst and Standard Lithium”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ecovyst	$689.49 million	1.11	$71.15 million	$0.63	10.42
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	($0.23)	-9.13

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.7% of Ecovyst shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Ecovyst shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ecovyst beats Standard Lithium on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ecovyst

Ecovyst Inc. offers specialty catalysts and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts. The Ecoservices segment provides sulfuric acid recycling services and end-to-end logistics for production of alkylate for refineries; and virgin sulfuric acid for mining, water treatment, and industrial applications. The Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment offers advanced materials and specialty catalyst products and process solutions to producers and licensors of polyethylene and advanced silicas. This segment also supplies specialty zeolites and zeolite-based catalysts to customers for refining of oil primarily hydrocracking catalyst and dewaxing, sustainable fuels, and emission control systems for both on-road and non-road diesel engines. The company was formerly known as PQ Group Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ecovyst Inc. in August 2021. Ecovyst Inc. was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

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.