Element Solutions (ESI) Competitors

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) and Cabot (NYSE:CBT) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ESI or CBT?

Cabot received 345 more outperform votes than Element Solutions when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.92% of users gave Cabot an outperform vote while only 39.62% of users gave Element Solutions an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Element Solutions	Outperform Votes 42 39.62%	Underperform Votes 64 60.38%
Cabot	Outperform Votes 387 61.92%	Underperform Votes 238 38.08%

Does the media prefer ESI or CBT?

In the previous week, Cabot had 3 more articles in the media than Element Solutions. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Cabot and 7 mentions for Element Solutions. Element Solutions' average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat Cabot's score of 1.01 indicating that Element Solutions is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Element Solutions	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cabot	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ESI or CBT a better dividend stock?

Element Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Element Solutions pays out 59.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cabot pays out 20.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cabot is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer ESI or CBT?

Element Solutions presently has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.24%. Cabot has a consensus price target of $93.67, suggesting a potential downside of 8.53%. Given Element Solutions' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Element Solutions is more favorable than Cabot.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Element Solutions	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Cabot	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more risk and volatility, ESI or CBT?

Element Solutions has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cabot has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ESI or CBT?

92.3% of Element Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Cabot shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of Element Solutions shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Cabot shares are owned by company 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.

Is ESI or CBT more profitable?

Cabot has a net margin of 11.51% compared to Element Solutions' net margin of 5.62%. Cabot's return on equity of 26.21% beat Element Solutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Element Solutions	5.62%	13.96%	6.49%
Cabot	11.51%	26.21%	10.32%

Which has better earnings and valuation, ESI or CBT?

Cabot has higher revenue and earnings than Element Solutions. Cabot is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Element Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Element Solutions	$2.33B	2.47	$118.10M	$0.54	44.07
Cabot	$3.93B	1.44	$445M	$7.90	12.96

Summary

Cabot beats Element Solutions on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.