Sumitomo Chemcl (OTCMKTS:SOMMY) vs. Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) Head-To-Head Analysis

Lsb Industries (NYSE:LXU) and Sumitomo Chemcl (OTCMKTS:SOMMY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lsb Industries and Sumitomo Chemcl”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lsb Industries	$522.40 million	1.28	-$19.35 million	($0.01)	-927.50
Sumitomo Chemcl	$17.12 billion	0.30	$254.70 million	$1.73	9.05

Sumitomo Chemcl has higher revenue and earnings than Lsb Industries. Lsb Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sumitomo Chemcl, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Lsb Industries has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sumitomo Chemcl has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Lsb Industries and Sumitomo Chemcl, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lsb Industries	1	1	1	1	2.50
Sumitomo Chemcl	0	1	0	0	2.00

Lsb Industries presently has a consensus target price of $10.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.51%. Given Lsb Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Lsb Industries is more favorable than Sumitomo Chemcl.

Profitability

This table compares Lsb Industries and Sumitomo Chemcl’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lsb Industries	-0.11%	2.70%	1.16%
Sumitomo Chemcl	3.43%	7.54%	2.43%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.7% of Lsb Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Lsb Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Lsb Industries beats Sumitomo Chemcl on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lsb Industries

LSB Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of chemical products. The company provides nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as ammonia, fertilizer grade high density ammonium nitrate (HDAN), and urea ammonia nitrate for fertilizer for corn, pastures, and other crops, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer blends application. It also offers high purity and commercial grade ammonia, high purity ammonium nitrate, sulfuric acids, mixed nitrating acids, carbon dioxide, and diesel exhaust fluids, as well as concentrated, and blended and regular nitric acids for various applications, including semiconductor, nylon, and polyurethane intermediates, ammonium nitrate, and metal processing; chemical feedstocks, emissions abatement, water treatments, and refrigerants; pulp and paper, aluminum, water treatment, metals, and vanadium processing; abatement for diesel vehicles; and food refrigeration, dry ice, and enhanced oil recovery. In addition, the company provides industrial grade and low density ammonium nitrate, and ammonium nitrate for explosives mining, quarries, and other blasting activities. It sells its products through distributors, as well as directly to end customers in the United States and other parts of North America. The company serves to the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. LSB Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

About Sumitomo Chemcl

Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited engages in Chemicals & Plastics, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals, health and crop sciences, pharmaceuticals, and other businesses worldwide. Its Essential Chemicals & Plastics segment offers synthetic resins, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polymethyl methacrylate resins; raw materials for synthetic fibers; and various industrial chemicals. The company's Energy & Functional Materials segment provides alumina and aluminum products used for energy products; resorcinol for tires, wood adhesives, flame retardants, and ultraviolet ray absorbants; polymer additives and rubber chemicals; synthetic rubber for tires, shoes, construction materials, and other applications; and engineering plastics and lithium-ion secondary battery materials for use in electronic components and next-generation vehicles. Its IT-Related Chemicals segment provides polarizing films, touch screen sensor panels, and color resists and polymer OLED for LC and OLED displays; photoresists and high-purity chemicals for the semiconductor manufacturing process; and compound semiconductor materials for antenna switches and other components of communication terminal equipment. The company's Health & Crop Sciences segment offers crop protection chemicals, fertilizers, feed additives, and household insecticides; active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates; and products to control infectious diseases. Its Pharmaceuticals segment provides prescription and diagnostic pharmaceuticals. The company's Others segment supplies electric power and steam; designs, constructs, and supervises chemical plants; provides transportation and warehousing services; and conducts physical property and environmental analysis. Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.