Comparing 5E Advanced Materials (NASDAQ:FEAM) & Orion (NYSE:OEC)

Orion (NYSE:OEC) and 5E Advanced Materials (NASDAQ:FEAM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Orion has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 5E Advanced Materials has a beta of 1.62, indicating that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Orion and 5E Advanced Materials”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orion	$1.88 billion	0.21	$44.20 million	($0.58)	-12.21
5E Advanced Materials	N/A	N/A	-$31.56 million	($7.03)	-0.31

Orion has higher revenue and earnings than 5E Advanced Materials. Orion is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than 5E Advanced Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Orion and 5E Advanced Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orion	-1.74%	14.90%	3.45%
5E Advanced Materials	N/A	-103.10%	-64.96%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Orion and 5E Advanced Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orion	3	2	0	0	1.40
5E Advanced Materials	1	1	2	0	2.25

Orion currently has a consensus target price of $5.67, suggesting a potential downside of 19.96%. 5E Advanced Materials has a consensus target price of $8.13, suggesting a potential upside of 276.16%. Given 5E Advanced Materials’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe 5E Advanced Materials is more favorable than Orion.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.3% of Orion shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Orion shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of 5E Advanced Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Orion beats 5E Advanced Materials on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orion

Orion S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings. It also provides rubber carbon black products for applications in mechanical rubber goods, as well as in tires under the ECORAX brand name; and acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. It operates in the United States, Brazil, rest of the Americas, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France, Rest of EMEA, China, the Republic of Korea, and rest of Asia. The company was formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. and changed its name to Orion S.A. in June 2023. Orion S.A. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg.

About 5E Advanced Materials

5E Advanced Materials, Inc. engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Australia and the United States. The company primarily explores for borates and lithium deposits. It holds 100% interest in the Fort Cady project located in the Mojave Desert region in eastern San Bernardino County, California. The company was formerly known as American Pacific Borates Limited. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Hesperia, California.