ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ – Get Free Report) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV – Get Free Report) are both small-cap materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Mativ shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.1% of ARQ shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Mativ shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
ARQ has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its share price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mativ has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| ARQ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Mativ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
ARQ currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 142.95%. Given ARQ’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe ARQ is more favorable than Mativ.
Profitability
This table compares ARQ and Mativ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| ARQ | -42.33% | -2.54% | -1.88% |
| Mativ | 4.50% | 13.53% | 3.08% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares ARQ and Mativ”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| ARQ | $120.34 million | 0.75 | -$52.61 million | ($1.26) | -1.63 |
| Mativ | $1.99 billion | 0.33 | -$337.40 million | $1.58 | 7.48 |
ARQ has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Mativ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mativ, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Mativ beats ARQ on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About ARQ
Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
About Mativ
Mativ Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials manufactures and sells various engineered polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens for the filtration, protective solutions, release liners, and healthcare end-markets. This segment sells its products directly, as well as through sales agents and distributors. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment produces packaging and specialty paper products. This segment provides premium packaging products that are used for wine, spirits and beer labels, folding cartons, box wrap, bags, hang tags, and stored value cards servicing retail, cosmetics, spirits, and electronics end-use markets; and premium papers, which are used in commercial printing services, advertising collateral, stationery, corporate identity packages and brochures, direct mail, business cards, and other uses. It also offers branded paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. This segment distributes its products through authorized paper distributors, converters, retailers, and specialty business converters, as well as directly to end-users. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.
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