Critical Review: Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) vs. Novozymes A/S (OTCMKTS:NVZMY)

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) and Novozymes A/S (OTCMKTS:NVZMY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ingevity and Novozymes A/S”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ingevity	$1.41 billion	1.07	-$430.30 million	($9.74)	-4.24
Novozymes A/S	$4.15 billion	8.20	$330.91 million	$1.58	45.98

Novozymes A/S has higher revenue and earnings than Ingevity. Ingevity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novozymes A/S, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.6% of Ingevity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Novozymes A/S shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Ingevity shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Ingevity and Novozymes A/S’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ingevity	-26.20%	63.76%	6.92%
Novozymes A/S	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ingevity and Novozymes A/S, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ingevity	0	1	3	0	2.75
Novozymes A/S	1	0	0	2	3.00

Ingevity presently has a consensus target price of $52.75, suggesting a potential upside of 27.60%. Given Ingevity’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Ingevity is more favorable than Novozymes A/S.

Risk & Volatility

Ingevity has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novozymes A/S has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Novozymes A/S beats Ingevity on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ingevity

Ingevity Corporation manufactures and sells activated carbon products, derivative specialty chemicals, and engineered polymers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It operates through three segments: Performance Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Advanced Polymer Technologies. The Performance Materials segment engineers, manufactures, and sells hardwood-based and chemically activated carbon products for use in gasoline vapor emission control systems in cars, motorcycles, trucks, and boats. This segment also produces other activated carbon products for food, water, beverage, and chemical purification applications. The Performance Chemicals segment consists of road technologies and industrial specialties. This segment's products are used in pavement construction, pavement preservation, pavement reconstruction and recycling, road markings, agrochemical dispersants, paper chemicals, and other industrial uses. The Advanced Polymer Technologies segment produces caprolactone and caprolactone-based specialty polymers for use in coatings, resins, elastomers, adhesives, bioplastics, and medical devices. It serves automotive parts and components manufacturers through sales representatives and distributors. The company was formerly known as WestRock Company, Specialty Chemicals Business and changed its name to Ingevity Corporation in September 2015. Ingevity Corporation was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina.

About Novozymes A/S

Novozymes A/S produces and sells industrial enzymes, microorganisms, and probiotics in Denmark, rest of Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and internationally. The company offers protein solutions for the food and beverage industry. It also offers industrial hygiene, drain openers, hard surface, medical cleaning, septic tanks, ware washing, and professional laundry services. In addition, the company provides dishwashing, softener, microbial and medical cleaning services. Further, it provides corn, cotton, forages, peanuts, pulses, soybeans, wheat, small grains, bioyield, and biocontrol solutions; warm water species, recirculating aquaculture system; animal health and nutrition solutions; fiber modification, bleach boosting, deposit control, and starch modification solutions. Additionally, the company provides carbon capture, leather and textiles solutions; enzyme solutions, including corn and wheat separation, liquefaction, saccharification, filtration, isomerization, maltose, and specialties solutions; warm water species and recirculating aquaculture system solutions; human health solutions, comprising brain, oral, protective and immune, and gastrointestinal health solutions; ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, education, wastewater, and sewage sludge, and renewable diesel solutions; agriculture and industry, biogas food waste, food waste, biocatalysis, cell culture, diagnostics, enzyme, and biogas solutions. Furthermore, it provides lipases, proteases, oxidoreductases, and carbohydrases. Novozymes A/S was founded in 1925 and is based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.