Financial Survey: Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) versus Huabao International (OTCMKTS:HUIHY)

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) and Huabao International (OTCMKTS:HUIHY) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ecovyst and Huabao International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ecovyst	1	0	4	0	2.60
Huabao International	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ecovyst presently has a consensus target price of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 35.85%. Given Ecovyst’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ecovyst is more favorable than Huabao International.

Risk and Volatility

Ecovyst has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huabao International has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ecovyst and Huabao International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ecovyst	$704.50 million	1.37	-$6.65 million	($0.93)	-9.10
Huabao International	$469.25 million	1.92	-$53.62 million	N/A	N/A

Ecovyst has higher revenue and earnings than Huabao International.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.7% of Ecovyst shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Ecovyst shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Ecovyst and Huabao International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ecovyst	-14.34%	8.93%	3.38%
Huabao International	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Ecovyst beats Huabao International on 10 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 Huabao International

Huabao International Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, researches, develops, produces, distributes, and sells flavours and fragrances, food ingredients, tobacco and aroma raw materials, and condiment products primarily in the People's Republic of China. It offers paper-making reconstituted tobacco leaves and new materials products for the tobacco industry. The company is also involved in the production and sale of natural extracts; tobacco flavours and fragrances; filter materials; cigarette filters; synthetic perfumes; and food flavours and fragrances. Huabao International Holdings Limited was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.