Reviewing Incitec Pivot (OTCMKTS:INCZY) & Nanophase Technologies (OTCMKTS:NANX)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Incitec Pivot and Nanophase Technologies’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Incitec Pivot	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.15	11.27
Nanophase Technologies	$37.30 million	1.57	-$4.39 million	($0.08)	-13.38

Incitec Pivot has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Analyst Recommendations

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

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

Profitability

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

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Summary

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

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.

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.