Contrasting Air Liquide (OTCMKTS:AIQUY) & Koppers (NYSE:KOP)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Koppers and Air Liquide, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Koppers	1	1	2	0	2.25
Air Liquide	0	3	2	1	2.67

Koppers presently has a consensus price target of $52.50, suggesting a potential upside of 85.47%. Given Koppers’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Koppers is more favorable than Air Liquide.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Koppers and Air Liquide”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Koppers	$2.09 billion	0.27	$52.40 million	$0.80	35.38
Air Liquide	$29.28 billion	3.65	$3.58 billion	N/A	N/A

Air Liquide has higher revenue and earnings than Koppers.

Risk and Volatility

Koppers has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Liquide has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.8% of Koppers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Air Liquide shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of Koppers shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Koppers	0.84%	16.48%	4.46%
Air Liquide	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Koppers pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Air Liquide pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Koppers pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Koppers has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

Koppers beats Air Liquide on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Koppers

Koppers Holdings Inc. provides treated wood products, wood preservation chemicals, and carbon compounds in the United States, Australasia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) segments. The RUPS segment procures and treats crossties, switch ties, and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings. It also provides rail joint bars to join rails together for railroads; transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities; and pilings. This segment provides railroad services, such as engineering, design, repair, and inspection services for railroad bridges. The PC segment develops, manufactures, and markets copper-based wood preservatives, including micronized copper azole, micronized pigments, alkaline copper quaternary, amine copper azole, and chromated copper arsenate for decking, fencing, utility poles, construction lumber and timbers, and various agricultural uses; and supplies fire-retardant chemicals for pressure treatment of wood primarily in commercial construction. The CMC segment manufactures creosote for the treatment of wood or as a feedstock in the production of carbon black; carbon pitch, a raw material used in the production of aluminum and steel; naphthalene for use as a feedstock in the production of phthalic anhydride and as a surfactant in the production of concrete; phthalic anhydride for the production of plasticizers, polyester resins, and alkyd paints; and carbon black feedstock for use in the production of carbon black. It serves the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction sectors. Koppers Holdings Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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.