Head to Head Contrast: Venator Materials (NYSE:VNTRQ) and Clariant (OTCMKTS:CLZNY)

Venator Materials (NYSE:VNTRQ) and Clariant (OTCMKTS:CLZNY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.5% of Venator Materials shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Clariant shares are held by institutional investors. 41.7% of Venator Materials shares are held by 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Venator Materials and Clariant”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Venator Materials	$2.17 billion	30.53	-$188.00 million	($3.28)	-189.02
Clariant	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.47	32.17

Clariant has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Venator Materials. Venator Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Clariant, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Venator Materials and Clariant’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Venator Materials	-18.19%	-47.15%	-8.22%
Clariant	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Venator Materials and Clariant, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Venator Materials	0	0	0	0	N/A
Clariant	0	0	1	1	3.50

Summary

Clariant beats Venator Materials on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Venator Materials

Venator Materials PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets chemical products in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in two segments, Titanium Dioxide and Performance Additives. The Titanium Dioxide segment offers titanium dioxide (TiO2), such as rutile, anatase, and ultrafine TiO2 products for use in coatings, printing inks, PVC window frames, plastic masterbatches, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, polyester and polyamide fibers, catalysts, and cosmetics products. The Performance Additives segment provides barium and zinc additives for use in coatings, films, and paper and glass fiber reinforced plastics; and colored inorganic pigments comprising iron oxides, ultramarines, specialty inorganic chemicals, and driers for construction, coatings, plastics, cosmetics, inks, catalyst, and laminates. This segment also offers wood protection chemicals for use in residential and commercial applications to prolong the life through protection from decay, fungal, and insect attack; timber treatment chemicals for use in decking, fencing, and other residential outdoor wood structures; and industrial construction products for use in telephone poles, and salt water piers and pilings. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Stockton-On-Tees, the United Kingdom. On May 14, 2023, Venator Materials PLC, along with its affiliates filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

About Clariant

Clariant AG engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of specialty chemicals worldwide. The Care Chemicals segment offers specialty chemicals and application solutions for various applications in automotive fluids, aviation, construction chemicals, crop solutions, health care, home care, industrial lubricants, paints and coatings, personal care, and special solvents. The Catalysis segment provides catalyst products for use as ammonia cracking, ammonia, custom catalysts, ethylene and derivatives, fischer-tropsch, fuel cell, fuel upgrading, gas processing, hydrogen, hydrogenation, liquid hydrogen carrier, low-carbon ammonia, low-carbon methanol, methanol, methanol-to-propylene, off-gas treatment, olefins purification, on-purpose propylene, oxidation, polypropylene, refinery stream purification, styrene, zeolite powders, biocatalysis, cellulosic ethanol, cellulosic sugars, low-carbon advanced biofuels, and residue-derived biochemical intermediates. The Adsorbents and Additives segment provides chemicals for oil, gas, mining, and refinery industries; services for oil and gas industries; emulsifiers for explosives, as well as cold-flow additive applications for middle distillates in refineries; mineral-based specialty products for bio- and renewable fuel purification, BTX catalysts, cargo and device protection, cat litter, chemical recycling, civil engineering, clay specialties, detergent additives, edible oil purification, feed additives, foundry additives, kerosene and jet fuel purification, paper additives, PVC stabilizers, and wastewater treatment applications; and flame retardants, performance additives, and advanced surface solutions for use in acid scavengers, antioxidiants, antistatic agents, halogen-free flame retardants, heat stabilizers, hot-melt adhesives, light stabilizers, lubricants, processing aids, processing stabilizers, release agents, slip control agents, and surface modifiers. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Muttenz, Switzerland.