Critical Comparison: Materion (NYSE:MTRN) & Tredegar (NYSE:TG)

Materion (NYSE:MTRN) and Tredegar (NYSE:TG) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Materion and Tredegar”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Materion	N/A	N/A	N/A	$4.29	54.79
Tredegar	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.96	7.48

Tredegar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Materion, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Materion and Tredegar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Materion	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tredegar	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.6% of Materion shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Tredegar shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Materion shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Tredegar shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Materion and Tredegar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Materion	0	1	4	0	2.80
Tredegar	0	1	0	0	2.00

Materion presently has a consensus target price of $310.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.89%. Given Materion’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Materion is more favorable than Tredegar.

Summary

Materion beats Tredegar on 7 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other. The company provides advanced engineered solutions comprising beryllium and non-beryllium containing alloy systems and custom engineered parts in strip, bulk, rod, plate, bar, tube, and other customized shapes; engineering and product development services; alloyed metals, beryllium products, and beryllium hydroxide; precision strip, rod, and wire products, as well as engineered strip metal products; and ToughMet alloys and SupremEX aluminum silicon carbide metal matrix composite formulation products. It operates the bertrandite ore mine and refinery located in Utah that provides feedstock hydroxide for its beryllium businesses and external sale. In addition, it produces advanced chemicals, microelectronics packaging, precious metal, non-precious metal, and specialty metal products, including vapor deposition targets, frame lid assemblies, clad and precious metal pre-forms, high temperature braze materials, and ultra-pure wire. Further, the company designs and produces precision thin film coatings, optical filters, and assemblies. The company sells its products directly from its facilities, as well as through company-owned service centers, outside distributors, agents, direct sales offices, and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation in March 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

About Tredegar

Tredegar Corporation manufactures and sells aluminum extrusions, polyethylene (PE) films, and plastic and polyester films in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Aluminum Extrusions, PE Films, and Flexible Packaging Films. The Aluminum Extrusions segment produces soft and medium strength alloyed aluminum extrusions, custom fabricated and finished aluminum extrusions for the building and construction, automotive and transportation, consumer durables, machinery and equipment, electrical and renewable energy, and distribution markets; and manufactures mill, anodized, and painted and alloyed aluminum extrusions to fabricators and distributors. The PE Films segment offers single- and multi-layer surface protection films for protecting components of flat panel and flexible displays that are used in televisions, monitors, notebooks, smart phones, tablets, e-readers, and digital signage under the UltraMask, ForceField, ForceField PEARL, Pearl A, and Obsidian brands. This segment provides polyethylene overwrap for bathroom tissue and paper towels, as well as polyethylene overwrap films and films for other markets. The Flexible Packaging Films segment offers polyester-based films for food packaging and industrial applications under the Ecophane and Sealphane brands. Tredegar Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.