Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) vs. Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Head-To-Head Analysis

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.5% of Corteva shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of Ecolab shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Corteva shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ecolab shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Corteva has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecolab has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Corteva pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Corteva pays out 47.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecolab pays out 39.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Corteva has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Ecolab has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Ecolab is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Corteva and Ecolab, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Corteva	0	9	14	0	2.61
Ecolab	0	3	17	1	2.90

Corteva presently has a consensus price target of $91.90, indicating a potential upside of 14.20%. Ecolab has a consensus price target of $327.56, indicating a potential upside of 21.49%. Given Ecolab’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ecolab is more favorable than Corteva.

Profitability

This table compares Corteva and Ecolab’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Corteva	5.66%	10.18%	6.00%
Ecolab	12.57%	22.72%	8.71%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Corteva and Ecolab”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Corteva	$17.40 billion	3.09	$1.09 billion	$1.51	53.30
Ecolab	$16.08 billion	4.70	$2.08 billion	$7.45	36.19

Ecolab has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Corteva. Ecolab is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Corteva, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ecolab beats Corteva on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc. operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics. This segment also provides digital solutions that assist farmer decision-making with a view to optimize product selection, and maximize yield and profitability. The Crop Protection segment offers products that protect against weeds, insects and other pests, and diseases, as well as enhances crop health above and below ground through nitrogen management and seed-applied technologies. This segment provides herbicides, insecticides, nitrogen stabilizers, and pasture and range management herbicides. It serves agricultural input industry. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Corteva, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries. Its Global Institutional & Specialty segment provides specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the foodservice, hospitality, lodging, government and education, and retail industries. The Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segment offers specialized cleaning and sanitizing products to the healthcare, personal care, and pharmaceutical industries, such as infection prevention and surgical solutions, and end-to-end cleaning and contamination control solutions under the Ecolab, Microtek, and Anios brand names. In addition, the company provides pest elimination services to detect, eliminate, and prevent pests, such as rodents and insects in restaurants, food and beverage processors, hotels, grocery operations, and other commercial segments including education, life sciences, and healthcare customers. Further, it offers colloidal silica for binding and polishing applications in semiconductor, catalyst, and aerospace component manufacturing, as well as chemical industries; and products and services that manage wash process through custom designed programs, premium products, dispensing equipment, water and energy management, and reduction, as well as real time data management. It sells its products through field sales and corporate account personnel, distributors, and dealers. Ecolab Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.