Reviewing SCI Engineered Materials (OTCMKTS:SCIA) and United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC)

SCI Engineered Materials (OTCMKTS:SCIA) and United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

27.6% of SCI Engineered Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.0% of United Microelectronics shares are held by institutional investors. 19.3% of SCI Engineered Materials shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of United Microelectronics shares are held by 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.

Profitability

This table compares SCI Engineered Materials and United Microelectronics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SCI Engineered Materials	8.97%	18.52%	13.39%
United Microelectronics	33.18%	21.00%	13.87%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SCI Engineered Materials and United Microelectronics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SCI Engineered Materials	$19.61 million	2.11	$1.75 million	$0.59	15.76
United Microelectronics	$7.57 billion	6.92	$1.29 billion	$1.07	19.43

United Microelectronics has higher revenue and earnings than SCI Engineered Materials. SCI Engineered Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Microelectronics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

SCI Engineered Materials has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Microelectronics has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for SCI Engineered Materials and United Microelectronics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SCI Engineered Materials	0	0	0	0	0.00
United Microelectronics	3	1	1	1	2.00

United Microelectronics has a consensus target price of $8.60, suggesting a potential downside of 58.63%. Given United Microelectronics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe United Microelectronics is more favorable than SCI Engineered Materials.

Summary

United Microelectronics beats SCI Engineered Materials on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SCI Engineered Materials

SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. engages in the manufacture and supply of materials for physical vapor deposition thin film applications in the United States. It offers ceramic targets, metal sputtering targets, and backing plates for use in semiconductors, thin film solar, flat panel displays, defense, aerospace, and photonics industries. The company’s materials are used to produce nano layers of metals and oxides for advanced material systems; and in applying decorative coatings for end uses, such as sink faucets to produce various electronic, photonic, and semiconductor products. It serves domestic and multi-national corporations, universities, and research institutions. The company was formerly known as Superconductive Components, Inc. and changed its name to SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. in 2007. SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers. United Microelectronics Corporation was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.