Air Liquide (OTCMKTS:AIQUY) versus Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Head-To-Head Analysis

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) and Air Liquide (OTCMKTS:AIQUY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Cabot and Air Liquide’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cabot	11.14%	25.68%	10.92%
Air Liquide	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.2% of Cabot shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Air Liquide shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Cabot shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Cabot has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Liquide has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Cabot and Air Liquide, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cabot	2	2	1	0	1.80
Air Liquide	0	3	2	1	2.67

Cabot currently has a consensus target price of $74.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.78%. Given Cabot’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cabot is more favorable than Air Liquide.

Dividends

Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Air Liquide pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Cabot pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cabot has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Cabot is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cabot and Air Liquide”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cabot	$3.71 billion	0.89	$380.00 million	$6.01	10.28
Air Liquide	$29.28 billion	3.78	$3.58 billion	N/A	N/A

Air Liquide has higher revenue and earnings than Cabot.

Summary

Cabot beats Air Liquide on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cabot

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions. The company also provides specialty carbons for use in inks, coatings, plastics, adhesives, toners, batteries, and displays; conductive additives and fumed alumina used in lead acid and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles; fumed silica used in adhesives, sealants, cosmetics, batteries, inks, toners, silicone elastomers, coatings, polishing slurries, and pharmaceuticals; and fumed alumina for use in various products, including inkjet media, lighting, coatings, cosmetics, and polishing slurries. In addition, it offers aerogel, a hydrophobic, silica-based particle to use in various thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications; masterbatch and conductive compound products that are used in automotive, industrial, packaging, infrastructure, agriculture, consumer products, and electronics industries; and inkjet colorants for inkjet printing applications. The company sells its products through distributors and sales representatives in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Cabot Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Air Liquide

L'Air Liquide S.A. provides gases, technologies, and services for the industrial and health sectors in Europe, the Americas, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates in Gas & Services, Engineering & Construction, and Global Markets & Technologies segments. The Gas & Services segment comprises large industries business, which offers gas and energy solutions including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide, as well as operates cogeneration plants to supply steam and electricity to metals, chemicals, refining, and energy industries; and industrial merchant business line provides industrial gases, equipment, hardgoods, and associated services to materials and energy, automotive and manufacturing, food and pharmaceuticals, technology and research, and craftsmen and retail sectors. This segment also includes healthcare business, which provides medical gases, home healthcare services, medical equipment, and specialty ingredient to patients, healthcare professionals, and hospitals; and electronic business supply carrier gases, electronic specialty and advanced materials, equipment and installation, and service to semiconductor, flat panel, and photovoltaic markets. The Engineering & Construction segment designs, develops, and builds industrial gas production plants to third parties; and design and manufacture plants in traditional, renewable and alternative energy sectors. The Global Markets & Technologies segment delivers technological solutions, such as molecules, equipment, and services to energy transition and deep technology. This segment also invests in and operates biomethane production units; designs hydrogen refueling stations; and supplies gases for the offshore oil and gas platforms, offshore wind turbines, and cryogenic transportation by sea. L'Air Liquide S.A. was incorporated in 1902 and is headquartered in Paris, France.