Critical Survey: Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) & Tosoh (OTCMKTS:TOSCF)

Tosoh (OTCMKTS:TOSCF) and Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Tosoh has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Johnson Matthey has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Tosoh and Johnson Matthey, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tosoh	0	0	0	0	0.00
Johnson Matthey	1	2	1	2	2.67

Profitability

This table compares Tosoh and Johnson Matthey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tosoh	4.01%	6.64%	4.43%
Johnson Matthey	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Tosoh and Johnson Matthey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tosoh	$6.78 billion	0.75	$276.45 million	$0.87	18.39
Johnson Matthey	$16.85 billion	0.28	-$128.69 million	N/A	N/A

Tosoh has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Johnson Matthey.

About Tosoh

Tosoh Corporation manufactures and sells basic chemicals, petrochemicals, specialty products, and fine chemicals worldwide. It operates through four segments: Petrochemical, Chlor-Alkali, Specialty, and Engineering. The company provides advance materials, including battery, fabricated quartzware, silica glass, thin film depositions, zeolites for catalysts and molecular sieves, zirconia injection mold components and compounds, zirconia grinding and dispersion media, and zirconia fine beads and powders. It also offers chromatographic columns, and media and diagnostic systems; clinical diagnostic systems; Portland cement and blast-furnace slag cement; and caustic soda, vinyl chloride monomer, calcium hypochlorite, and sodium bicarbonate. In addition, the company provides ethylene, propylene, C4 fraction, tertiary butyl alcohol, cumene, and aromatic compounds; and ethyleneamines, bromine, hydrobromic acids, flame retardants, non-aqueous solvents, chelating agents, ethylene dichloride, and sodium styrenesulfonate. Further, it offers polymers, such as ethylene vinyl-acetate copolymers, adhesive polymers, low and high-density polyethylene products, synthetic rubbers, functional polymers, and polyvinyl chloride pastes; and polyurethanes (PU), including methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, toluene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, adhesives, coating resins, elastomers, polyisocyanates for PU paints, and polyols. The company manufactures and sells water treatment systems; and engages in the construction and repair businesses. It serves chemical and petrochemical, construction, automotive, consumer electronics, information technology, bioscience, and environmental markets. The company was incorporated in 1935 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Johnson Matthey

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, they improve the function, performance and safety of their customers’ products. Their science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with their network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.