International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) & Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Critical Analysis

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) and International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, International Flavors & Fragrances has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. International Flavors & Fragrances pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Minerals Technologies pays out -2,400.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. International Flavors & Fragrances pays out -98.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Minerals Technologies has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Minerals Technologies and International Flavors & Fragrances’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Minerals Technologies	-0.08%	10.69%	5.31%
International Flavors & Fragrances	-3.72%	8.03%	4.12%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Minerals Technologies and International Flavors & Fragrances, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Minerals Technologies	1	0	1	0	2.00
International Flavors & Fragrances	2	4	12	0	2.56

Minerals Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $84.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.19%. International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus price target of $85.02, indicating a potential upside of 29.93%. Given Minerals Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than International Flavors & Fragrances.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Minerals Technologies and International Flavors & Fragrances”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Minerals Technologies	$2.12 billion	0.89	$167.10 million	($0.02)	-3,039.25
International Flavors & Fragrances	$11.48 billion	1.46	$243.00 million	($1.62)	-40.39

International Flavors & Fragrances has higher revenue and earnings than Minerals Technologies. Minerals Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than International Flavors & Fragrances, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats International Flavors & Fragrances on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. engages in the manufacture and supply of flavors and fragrances used in the food, beverage, personal care, and household products industries. It operates through the following segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment consists of legacy Taste segment combined with N&B’s Food & Beverage division and the food protection business of N&B’s Health & Biosciences division. The Health & Biosciences business consists of a biotechnology-driven portfolio of enzymes, food cultures, probiotics and specialty ingredients for food, home and personal care, and health and wellness applications. The Scent business creates fragrance compounds, fragrance ingredients and cosmetic ingredients that are integral elements in the world’s finest perfumes and best-known household and personal care products. The Pharma Solutions business produces a vast portfolio including cellulosics and seaweed-based pharma excipients, used to improve the functionality and delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients, including controlled or modified drug release formulations, and enabling. The company was founded in 1833 and is headquartered in New York, NY.