Financial Survey: Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM) and Kansai Paint (OTCMKTS:KSANF)

Kansai Paint (OTCMKTS:KSANF) and Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Dividends

Kansai Paint pays an annual dividend of $12.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 70.4%. Arcadium Lithium pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 102.8%. Kansai Paint pays out 17.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Arcadium Lithium pays out 2,222.2% 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 Kansai Paint and Arcadium Lithium’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kansai Paint	N/A	N/A	N/A
Arcadium Lithium	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.0% of Kansai Paint shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.0% of Arcadium Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Arcadium Lithium shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kansai Paint and Arcadium Lithium”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kansai Paint	N/A	N/A	N/A	$71.19	0.25
Arcadium Lithium	$1.21 billion	5.20	$290.42 million	$0.27	21.61

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Kansai Paint and Arcadium Lithium, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kansai Paint	0	0	0	0	0.00
Arcadium Lithium	0	10	0	0	2.00

Arcadium Lithium has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 88.52%. Given Arcadium Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Arcadium Lithium is more favorable than Kansai Paint.

Summary

Arcadium Lithium beats Kansai Paint on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kansai Paint

Kansai Paint Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells paints and coatings in Japan, India, Asia, Africa, Europe, and internationally. The company offers decorative coatings for protecting exterior and interior of buildings; automotive refinish coatings for dents and scrapes; and industrial coatings that are used in agricultural machinery, special-purpose vehicles, exterior building materials, metal products, beverage cans, and precoated metals used in metallic building materials and home appliances. It also offers marine coatings; automotive coatings for vehicle's conditions and aesthetics preservation, including film coating materials; and protective coatings for bridges, power equipment, industrial plants, and steel structures, as well as offers fire-resistant coatings. In addition, the company provides coatings solutions through electronic materials coating design technologies; and develops hydrogel fluid carrier beads that are used in various types of wastewater treatment. Further, it designs, manufactures, and sells coating equipment; controls and undertakes painting works; and designs color schemes. Kansai Paint Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1918 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.

About Arcadium Lithium

Arcadium Lithium plc engages in the production of lithium chemicals products in the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It offers battery-grade lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, butyllithium and high purity lithium metal for electric vehicles, electronics, agricultural, industrial, greases, polymers, pharmaceutical, battery, and aerospace applications. The company also owns interest in various properties located in Argentina, Canada, and Western Australia. Arcadium Lithium plc was founded in 1944 and is based in Shannon, Ireland.