Reviewing AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) and Mativ (NYSE:MATV)

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

Risk and Volatility

Mativ has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AdvanSix has a beta of 1.71, suggesting that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mativ	-22.03%	7.06%	1.73%
AdvanSix	3.52%	7.14%	3.50%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.0% of Mativ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of AdvanSix shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Mativ shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of AdvanSix shares are held by company 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.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mativ	$1.98 billion	0.34	-$48.70 million	($8.03)	-1.53
AdvanSix	$1.52 billion	0.29	$44.15 million	$1.92	8.54

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Mativ and AdvanSix, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mativ	1	1	1	0	2.00
AdvanSix	1	1	1	0	2.00

Mativ currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential downside of 18.55%. AdvanSix has a consensus price target of $28.67, suggesting a potential upside of 74.80%. Given AdvanSix’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AdvanSix is more favorable than Mativ.

Dividends

Mativ pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. AdvanSix pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Mativ pays out -5.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AdvanSix pays out 33.3% 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. Mativ has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and AdvanSix has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. AdvanSix is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

AdvanSix beats Mativ on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About AdvanSix

AdvanSix Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of polymer resins in the United States and internationally. It offers Nylon 6, a polymer resin, which is a synthetic material used to produce fibers, filaments, engineered plastics, and films. The company also provides caprolactam to manufacture polymer resins; ammonium sulfate fertilizers to distributors, farm cooperatives, and retailers; and acetone that are used in the production of adhesives, paints, coatings, solvents, herbicides, and engineered plastic resins, as well as other intermediate chemicals, including phenol, monoisopropylamine, dipropylamine, monoallylamine, alpha-methylstyrene, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketoxime, acetaldehyde oxime, 2-pentanone oxime, cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. It offers its products under the Aegis, Capran, Sulf-N, Nadone, Naxol, and EZ-Blox brands. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors. AdvanSix Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.