Element Solutions (ESI) Competitors

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) and Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, media sentiment, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Which has more volatility and risk, ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Littelfuse has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Littelfuse. Element Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Littelfuse, 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	$2.48B	2.37	$244.20M	$1.19	20.37
Littelfuse	$2.19B	2.60	$100.19M	$4.32	53.30

Is ESI or LFUS a better dividend stock?

Element Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Littelfuse pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions pays out 26.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Littelfuse pays out 64.8% 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. Littelfuse has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Element Solutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ESI or LFUS?

92.3% of Element Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Littelfuse shares are held by institutional investors. 6.9% of Element Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Littelfuse shares are held 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.

Does the media prefer ESI or LFUS?

In the previous week, Element Solutions had 8 more articles in the media than Littelfuse. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Element Solutions and 12 mentions for Littelfuse. Element Solutions' average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Littelfuse's score of 1.11 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	11 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Littelfuse	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $27.13, suggesting a potential upside of 11.89%. Littelfuse has a consensus target price of $252.25, suggesting a potential upside of 9.55%. Given Element Solutions' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Element Solutions is more favorable than Littelfuse.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Element Solutions	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Littelfuse	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is ESI or LFUS more profitable?

Element Solutions has a net margin of 11.56% compared to Littelfuse's net margin of 4.89%. Element Solutions' return on equity of 14.42% beat Littelfuse's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Element Solutions	11.56%	14.42%	7.14%
Littelfuse	4.89%	9.00%	5.65%

Summary

Element Solutions beats Littelfuse on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.