Head-To-Head Comparison: Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) versus Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT)

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ingevity has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Standard Lithium and Ingevity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standard Lithium	N/A	-11.52%	-10.25%
Ingevity	-38.11%	24.46%	4.29%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ingevity shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Ingevity shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Standard Lithium and Ingevity”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.59	2.60
Ingevity	$1.69 billion	0.98	-$564.52 million	($15.53)	-2.94

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Standard Lithium and Ingevity, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Standard Lithium	0	0	2	0	3.00
Ingevity	0	3	3	0	2.50

Standard Lithium presently has a consensus target price of $3.95, suggesting a potential upside of 157.33%. Ingevity has a consensus target price of $52.17, suggesting a potential upside of 14.07%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Ingevity.

Summary

Standard Lithium beats Ingevity on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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.