Head to Head Analysis: Mativ (NYSE:MATV) and Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE)

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Green Plains has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mativ has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.0% of Mativ shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Green Plains shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Mativ shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Green Plains and Mativ, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Plains	2	5	3	1	2.27
Mativ	1	1	1	0	2.00

Green Plains presently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.04%. Mativ has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential downside of 17.63%. Given Green Plains’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Green Plains is more favorable than Mativ.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Green Plains and Mativ”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Plains	$2.46 billion	0.28	-$82.50 million	($2.92)	-3.36
Mativ	$1.98 billion	0.34	-$48.70 million	($8.03)	-1.51

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

Profitability

This table compares Green Plains and Mativ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Plains	-8.37%	-16.78%	-8.14%
Mativ	-22.03%	7.06%	1.73%

Summary

Green Plains beats Mativ on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc. produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil. The Agribusiness and Energy Services segment engages in the grain procurement, handling and storage, commodity marketing business; and trading of ethanol, distiller grains, renewable corn oil, grain, natural gas, and other commodities in various markets. This segment also provides grain drying and storage services to grain producers. The Partnership segment offers fuel storage and transportation services. It operates 24 ethanol storage facilities; two fuel terminal facilities; and a fleet of approximately 2,180 leased railcars. The company was formerly known as Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Green Plains Inc. in May 2014. Green Plains Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

About Mativ

Mativ Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials manufactures and sells various engineered polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens for the filtration, protective solutions, release liners, and healthcare end-markets. This segment sells its products directly, as well as through sales agents and distributors. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment produces packaging and specialty paper products. This segment provides premium packaging products that are used for wine, spirits and beer labels, folding cartons, box wrap, bags, hang tags, and stored value cards servicing retail, cosmetics, spirits, and electronics end-use markets; and premium papers, which are used in commercial printing services, advertising collateral, stationery, corporate identity packages and brochures, direct mail, business cards, and other uses. It also offers branded paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. This segment distributes its products through authorized paper distributors, converters, retailers, and specialty business converters, as well as directly to end-users. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.