AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) versus Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) Critical Comparison

AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) and Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.4% of AdvanSix shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ingevity shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of AdvanSix shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Ingevity shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

AdvanSix has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ingevity has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares AdvanSix and Ingevity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AdvanSix	0.67%	2.18%	1.05%
Ingevity	-10.55%	207.82%	9.70%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AdvanSix and Ingevity”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AdvanSix	$1.52 billion	0.34	$49.29 million	$0.37	51.50
Ingevity	$1.17 billion	2.22	-$167.10 million	($3.55)	-20.99

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for AdvanSix and Ingevity, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AdvanSix	1	2	0	0	1.67
Ingevity	1	2	2	0	2.20

AdvanSix presently has a consensus target price of $22.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.08%. Ingevity has a consensus target price of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.36%. Given AdvanSix’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AdvanSix is more favorable than Ingevity.

Summary

AdvanSix beats Ingevity on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AdvanSix

AdvanSix Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. It offers its products under the Aegis, Capran, Sulf-N, Nadone, Naxol, and EZ-Blox brands. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors. AdvanSix Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

About Ingevity

Ingevity Corporation manufactures and sells activated carbon products, derivative specialty chemicals, and engineered polymers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It operates through three segments: Performance Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Advanced Polymer Technologies. The Performance Materials segment engineers, manufactures, and sells hardwood-based and chemically activated carbon products for use in gasoline vapor emission control systems in cars, motorcycles, trucks, and boats. This segment also produces other activated carbon products for food, water, beverage, and chemical purification applications. The Performance Chemicals segment consists of road technologies and industrial specialties. This segment's products are used in pavement construction, pavement preservation, pavement reconstruction and recycling, road markings, agrochemical dispersants, paper chemicals, and other industrial uses. The Advanced Polymer Technologies segment produces caprolactone and caprolactone-based specialty polymers for use in coatings, resins, elastomers, adhesives, bioplastics, and medical devices. It serves automotive parts and components manufacturers through sales representatives and distributors. The company was formerly known as WestRock Company, Specialty Chemicals Business and changed its name to Ingevity Corporation in September 2015. Ingevity Corporation was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina.