Contrasting Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) and IperionX (NASDAQ:IPX)

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) and IperionX (NASDAQ:IPX) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Hillenbrand and IperionX, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hillenbrand	0	2	0	0	2.00
IperionX	0	0	2	0	3.00

Hillenbrand presently has a consensus target price of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.10%. IperionX has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.47%. Given Hillenbrand’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Hillenbrand is more favorable than IperionX.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hillenbrand and IperionX”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hillenbrand	$3.18 billion	0.54	-$211.00 million	($0.25)	-98.39
IperionX	N/A	N/A	-$21.84 million	N/A	N/A

IperionX has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hillenbrand.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.1% of Hillenbrand shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of IperionX shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Hillenbrand shares are owned by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Hillenbrand and IperionX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hillenbrand	-0.63%	13.53%	3.82%
IperionX	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Hillenbrand has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IperionX has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hillenbrand beats IperionX on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand, Inc. operates as an industrial company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Process Solutions and Molding Technology Solutions. The Advanced Process Solutions segment designs, engineers, manufactures, markets, and services process and material handling equipment and systems comprising compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment, equipment system design services, as well as offers mixing technology, ingredient automation, and portion process; and provides screening and separating equipment for various industries, including plastics, food and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, energy, wastewater treatment, forest products, and other general industrials. The Molding Technology Solutions segment offers injection molding and extrusion equipment; hot runner systems; process control systems; mold bases and components; maintenance and repair services; and aftermarket parts and service for various industries, including automotive, consumer goods, medical, packaging, construction, and electronics. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana.

About IperionX

IperionX’s mission is to be the leading developer of low carbon, sustainable, critical material supply chains focused on advanced industries including space, aerospace, electric vehicles and 3D printing. IperionX’s breakthrough titanium technologies have demonstrated the potential to produce titanium products that are sustainable, 100% recyclable, have low carbon intensity and to do so at product qualities that meet or exceed current industry standards. The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Titan Project, covering approximately 11,100 acres of titanium, rare earth minerals, high grade silica sand and zircon rich mineral sands properties in Tennessee.