Critical Contrast: H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) and AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX)

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) and AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

H. B. Fuller has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AdvanSix has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares H. B. Fuller and AdvanSix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H. B. Fuller	4.62%	11.84%	4.52%
AdvanSix	0.67%	2.18%	1.05%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for H. B. Fuller and AdvanSix, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H. B. Fuller	0	3	3	1	2.71
AdvanSix	1	2	0	0	1.67

H. B. Fuller presently has a consensus target price of $63.80, suggesting a potential upside of 2.77%. AdvanSix has a consensus target price of $22.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.53%. Given H. B. Fuller’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe H. B. Fuller is more favorable than AdvanSix.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.9% of H. B. Fuller shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of AdvanSix shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of H. B. Fuller shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of AdvanSix shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares H. B. Fuller and AdvanSix”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H. B. Fuller	$3.47 billion	0.97	$151.97 million	$3.03	20.49
AdvanSix	$1.52 billion	0.40	$49.29 million	$0.37	61.14

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

Dividends

H. B. Fuller pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. AdvanSix pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. H. B. Fuller pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AdvanSix pays out 173.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. H. B. Fuller has raised its dividend for 57 consecutive years and AdvanSix has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

H. B. Fuller beats AdvanSix on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About H. B. Fuller

H.B. Fuller Company, together with its subsidiaries, formulates, manufactures, and markets adhesives, sealants, coatings, polymers, tapes, encapsulants, additives, and other specialty chemical products. It operates through three segments: Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives; Engineering Adhesives; and Construction Adhesives. The Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives segment produces and supplies specialty industrial adhesives, such as thermoplastic, thermoset, reactive, water-based, and solvent-based products for applications in various markets, including packaging, converting, nonwoven and hygiene, and health and beauty. The Engineering Adhesives segment produces and supplies high performance industrial adhesives comprising reactive, light cure, two-part liquids, polyurethane, silicone, film, and fast cure products to the durable assembly, performance wood and textile, transportation, electronics, clean energy, aerospace and defense, appliance, heavy machinery, and insulating glass markets. The Construction Adhesives segment provides products used for tile setting, commercial roofing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and insulation applications, as well as caulks and sealants for the consumer market and professional trade. The company sells its products directly to customers, as well as through distributors and retailers in the Americas, Europe, India, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. H.B. Fuller Company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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.