Element Solutions (ESI) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate CBT or ESI?

Cabot presently has a consensus price target of $90.17, suggesting a potential downside of 3.80%. Element Solutions has a consensus price target of $25.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.96%. Given Cabot's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Element Solutions is more favorable than Cabot.

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

Does the media favor CBT or ESI?

In the previous week, Cabot had 2 more articles in the media than Element Solutions. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Cabot and 3 mentions for Element Solutions. Cabot's average media sentiment score of 0.45 beat Element Solutions' score of 0.39 indicating that Element Solutions is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, CBT or ESI?

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
Cabot	$3.93B	1.32	$445M	$7.70	12.19
Element Solutions	$2.33B	2.50	$118.10M	$0.49	49.16

Is CBT or ESI a better dividend stock?

Cabot pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Element Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Cabot pays out 20.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Element Solutions pays out 65.3% 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 has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Cabot is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, CBT or ESI?

Cabot has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Element Solutions has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CBT or ESI more profitable?

Cabot has a net margin of 11.24% compared to Cabot's net margin of 5.06%. Element Solutions' return on equity of 25.52% beat Cabot's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cabot	11.24%	25.52%	9.66%
Element Solutions	5.06%	13.51%	6.29%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CBT or ESI?

93.2% of Cabot shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.3% of Element Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Cabot shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Element Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CBT or ESI?

Cabot received 346 more outperform votes than Element Solutions when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.90% of users gave Cabot an outperform vote while only 38.24% of users gave Element Solutions an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cabot	Outperform Votes 385 61.90%	Underperform Votes 237 38.10%
Element Solutions	Outperform Votes 39 38.24%	Underperform Votes 63 61.76%

Summary

Cabot beats Element Solutions on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.