Head-To-Head Review: Arkema (ARKAY) & Its Competitors

Arkema (OTCMKTS:ARKAY) is one of 46 publicly-traded companies in the “CHEM – DIVERSIFD” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Arkema to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.5% of shares of all “CHEM – DIVERSIFD” companies are held by institutional investors. 4.5% of shares of all “CHEM – DIVERSIFD” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Arkema and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arkema	3.40%	7.42%	3.84%
Arkema Competitors	-39.80%	2.88%	0.68%

Dividends

Arkema pays an annual dividend of $3.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Arkema pays out 67.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “CHEM – DIVERSIFD” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 101.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Arkema is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Arkema and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arkema	$10.33 billion	$383.06 million	15.82
Arkema Competitors	$10.58 billion	$484.74 million	6.88

Arkema’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Arkema. Arkema is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Arkema and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arkema	1	1	0	1	2.33
Arkema Competitors	576	2737	3213	99	2.43

As a group, “CHEM – DIVERSIFD” companies have a potential upside of 28.52%. Given Arkema’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Arkema has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Risk & Volatility

Arkema has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arkema’s rivals have a beta of 0.94, meaning that their average stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Arkema beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Arkema

Arkema S.A. manufactures and sells specialty chemicals and advanced materials worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials and Coating Solutions, and Intermediates. The Adhesive Solutions segment provides solutions for construction, renovation of buildings, DIY, durable goods, and packaging and non-woven applications; and supplies technologies used in building activities for businesses and individuals, including sealants, tiles, flooring adhesives and waterproofing systems, and technologies used in industry, which include automotive, textiles, glazing, flexible and rigid packaging, and hygiene markets. This segment also offers performance polymers, such as specialty polyamides, PVDF, polyimides, fluorospecialties, and polyetherketoneketone; and performance additives which includes molecular sieves, organic peroxides, thiochemicals, and hydrogen peroxide. The Advance Materials and Coating Solutions segment offers coating solutions, including comprising EU/US acrylics and coating resins; coating additives, such as sartomer photocure resins and coatex rheology additives. This segment also provides decorative paints, industrial coatings, and adhesives; and solutions for applications in the paper, superabsorbent, water treatment and oil and gas extraction, and 3D printing and electronics industries. The Intermediates segment provides fluorogases and acrylics; and industrial intermediate chemicals used in construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, automotive, coatings, and water treatment sectors. Arkema S.A. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Colombes, France.