Head to Head Analysis: Celanese (NYSE:CE) vs. Gulf Resources (NASDAQ:GURE)

Celanese (NYSE:CE) and Gulf Resources (NASDAQ:GURE) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Celanese has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gulf Resources has a beta of -0.02, meaning that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Celanese and Gulf Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Celanese	$9.54 billion	0.54	-$1.17 billion	($10.69)	-4.42
Gulf Resources	$25.42 million	0.22	-$43.92 million	($29.52)	-0.10

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

Profitability

This table compares Celanese and Gulf Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Celanese	-12.04%	13.04%	2.69%
Gulf Resources	-134.41%	-8.95%	-7.40%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.9% of Celanese shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.3% of Gulf Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Celanese shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Gulf Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Celanese and Gulf Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Celanese	1	8	9	1	2.53
Gulf Resources	1	0	0	0	1.00

Celanese presently has a consensus target price of $60.38, suggesting a potential upside of 27.78%. Given Celanese’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Celanese is more favorable than Gulf Resources.

Summary

Celanese beats Gulf Resources on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics. The Acetyl Chain segment produces and supplies acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomers, acetic anhydride, and acetate esters that are used as starting materials for colorants, paints, adhesives, coatings, and pharmaceuticals; and organic solvents and intermediates for pharmaceutical, agricultural, and chemical products. It also offers vinyl acetate-based emulsions for use in paints and coatings, adhesives, construction, glass fiber, textiles, and paper applications; and ethylene vinyl acetate resins and compounds, as well as low-density polyethylene for use in flexible packaging films, lamination film products, hot melt adhesives, automotive parts, and carpeting applications. In addition, it provides redispersible powders (RDP) for use in construction applications, including flooring, plasters, insulation, tiling, and waterproofing. Celanese Corporation was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

About Gulf Resources

Gulf Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and trades bromine and crude salt, chemical products, and natural gas in the People’s Republic of China. The company operates through four segments: Bromine, Crude salt, Chemical products, and Natural gas segments. It also provides bromine for use in bromine compounds, intermediates in organic synthesis, brominated flame retardants, fumigants, water purification compounds, dyes, medicines, and disinfectants. In addition, the company offers crude salt for use as a material in alkali and chlorine alkali production for use in the chemical, food and beverage, and other industries. In addition, it manufactures and sells chemical products for use in oil and gas field exploration, oil and gas distribution, oil field drilling, papermaking chemical agents, and inorganic chemicals, as well as materials that are used for human and animal antibiotics. The company is based in Shouguang, the People’s Republic of China.