Contrasting Asahi Glass (OTCMKTS:ASGLY) & Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI)

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) and Asahi Glass (OTCMKTS:ASGLY) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Intrepid Potash has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Asahi Glass has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Intrepid Potash and Asahi Glass’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intrepid Potash	8.94%	4.74%	3.73%
Asahi Glass	4.22%	5.28%	3.05%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Intrepid Potash and Asahi Glass, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intrepid Potash	1	1	0	2	2.75
Asahi Glass	0	1	0	0	2.00

Intrepid Potash presently has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential downside of 22.64%. Given Intrepid Potash’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Intrepid Potash is more favorable than Asahi Glass.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Intrepid Potash and Asahi Glass”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intrepid Potash	$298.33 million	1.69	$11.19 million	$1.98	18.93
Asahi Glass	$13.77 billion	0.56	$463.39 million	$0.55	12.85

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

56.1% of Intrepid Potash shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Intrepid Potash shares are held 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.

Summary

Intrepid Potash beats Asahi Glass on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intrepid Potash

Intrepid Potash, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction and production of the potash in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The company offers muriate of potash for various markets, such as agricultural market as a fertilizer input; the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes; and the animal feed market as a nutrient supplement. It also provides Trio, a specialty fertilizer that delivers potassium, sulfate, and magnesium in a single particle; water for oil and gas services industry; salt for various markets, including animal feed, industrial applications, pool salt, and the treatment of roads and walkways for ice melting or to manage road conditions; magnesium chloride for use as a road treatment agent for deicing and dedusting; brines for use in oil and gas industry to support well workover and completion activities; and metal recovery salts. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Asahi Glass

AGC Inc. manufactures and sells glass, automotive, electronics, chemicals, and ceramics worldwide. The company offers architectural glass products, including laminated, insulating, wired, solar control, toughened, decorative, sound insulation, float and patterned, and industrial glasses; structural glazing systems; and automotive glass, such as laminated, tempered, and privacy glasses, as well as integrated glass antennas and module assembly windows. It also provides glass substrates for thin-film-transistor liquid crystal displays and OLEDs; synthetic fused silica glass, synthetic quartz crystals, silicon carbides, CMP slurry, through glass Vias, high refractive index glass, diffusers, glass ceramics substrates, optical planar devices, IR cut filters, aspherical glass and molded lens, and micro lens array products; polycarbonate and optical sheets, thin sheets, and films; and glass frits and pastes, as well as glass substrates for semiconductor packaging and other electronic materials. In addition, the company offers cover glass for smartphones and tablet devices; glass substrates for photovoltaic devices and touch panels; specialty glass; extra clear float glass; transparent conductive oxide glass for a-Si type solar module; and ultra-thin glass for electronics devices. Further, it provides chlor-alkali, polyurethanes, fluoro, and specialty chemical products; high thermal insulation ceramics wall for furnaces; and ceramic beads, sputtering targets, abrasion resistant ceramics, alumina cement, engineering fine ceramics, and ceramics molding agents for 3D printers. Additionally, the company engages in the digital signage on glass, copper clad laminate, and plastic optical fiber businesses; and gas and solvents, and life Science businesses. The company was formerly known as Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. and changed its name to AGC Inc. in July 2018. AGC Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.