Nanophase Technologies (OTCMKTS:NANX) versus Incitec Pivot (OTCMKTS:INCZY) Financial Contrast

Nanophase Technologies (OTCMKTS:NANX) and Incitec Pivot (OTCMKTS:INCZY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Nanophase Technologies and Incitec Pivot, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nanophase Technologies	0	0	0	0	N/A
Incitec Pivot	1	0	0	0	1.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nanophase Technologies and Incitec Pivot’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nanophase Technologies	$37.30 million	1.42	-$4.39 million	($0.08)	-12.13
Incitec Pivot	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.15	11.60

Incitec Pivot has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nanophase Technologies. Nanophase Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Incitec Pivot, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.2% of Nanophase Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Incitec Pivot shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Nanophase Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nanophase Technologies and Incitec Pivot’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nanophase Technologies	-11.75%	-112.49%	-13.39%
Incitec Pivot	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Incitec Pivot beats Nanophase Technologies on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nanophase Technologies

Nanophase Technologies Corporation, a science-driven company, develops, manufactures, and sells integrated family of nanomaterial technologies in the United States. It engages in engineered materials, formulation development, and commercial manufacturing. The company produces engineered nanomaterial products comprising antimony, bismuth, cerium, iron, and zinc oxide for use in a various markets, including surface finishing,exterior coatings, personal care, plastics, scratch resistant coatings, and textiles. It also provides skin care formulations with mineral-based UV protection under the under the Solésence brand; and advanced material products, including architectural coatings, industrial coatings, abrasion-resistant additives, plastics additives, medical diagnostics, and surface finishing technologies applications. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Romeoville, Illinois.

About Incitec Pivot

Incitec Pivot Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes industrial explosives, industrial chemicals, and fertilizers in Australia, the United States, the Asia Pacific, Turkey, France, and internationally. It offers ammonium nitrate, nitrogen-based fertilizer, ammonia, di/mono-ammonium phosphate, and single super phosphate. The company also manufactures and sells industrial explosives, and related products and services to mining, quarrying, and construction industries. In addition, it offers industrial chemicals to the agriculture and specialist industries. The company was founded in 1831 and is headquartered in Southbank, Australia.