Piedmont Lithium (PLL) Competitors

Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) and Columbus McKinnon (NASDAQ:CMCO) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in PLL or CMCO?

52.2% of Piedmont Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Columbus McKinnon shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Piedmont Lithium shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Columbus McKinnon shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate PLL or CMCO?

Piedmont Lithium currently has a consensus target price of $20.63, indicating a potential upside of 242.04%. Columbus McKinnon has a consensus target price of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 192.16%. Given Piedmont Lithium's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Piedmont Lithium is more favorable than Columbus McKinnon.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piedmont Lithium	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Columbus McKinnon	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is PLL or CMCO more profitable?

Columbus McKinnon has a net margin of 0.95% compared to Piedmont Lithium's net margin of -64.84%. Columbus McKinnon's return on equity of 8.64% beat Piedmont Lithium's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piedmont Lithium	-64.84%	-17.74%	-15.66%
Columbus McKinnon	0.95%	8.64%	4.30%

Does the media favor PLL or CMCO?

In the previous week, Columbus McKinnon had 6 more articles in the media than Piedmont Lithium. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Columbus McKinnon and 0 mentions for Piedmont Lithium. Columbus McKinnon's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Piedmont Lithium's score of 0.00 indicating that Columbus McKinnon is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Piedmont Lithium	Neutral
Columbus McKinnon	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, PLL or CMCO?

Columbus McKinnon has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Lithium. Piedmont Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbus McKinnon, 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
Piedmont Lithium	$99.88M	1.32	-$21.78M	-$3.32	-1.82
Columbus McKinnon	$981.64M	0.44	$46.62M	$0.33	45.64

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PLL or CMCO?

Columbus McKinnon received 76 more outperform votes than Piedmont Lithium when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.89% of users gave Columbus McKinnon an outperform vote while only 52.48% of users gave Piedmont Lithium an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Piedmont Lithium	Outperform Votes 212 52.48%	Underperform Votes 192 47.52%
Columbus McKinnon	Outperform Votes 288 60.89%	Underperform Votes 185 39.11%

Which has more volatility & risk, PLL or CMCO?

Piedmont Lithium has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbus McKinnon has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is PLL or CMCO a better dividend stock?

Piedmont Lithium pays an annual dividend of $1.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.2%. Columbus McKinnon pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Piedmont Lithium pays out -36.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbus McKinnon pays out 84.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Piedmont Lithium is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Columbus McKinnon beats Piedmont Lithium on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.