Head to Head Survey: YaSheng Group (OTCMKTS:HERB) versus FMC (NYSE:FMC)

YaSheng Group (OTCMKTS:HERB) and FMC (NYSE:FMC) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.9% of FMC shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of FMC shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

YaSheng Group has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FMC has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for YaSheng Group and FMC, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
YaSheng Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
FMC	1	7	5	0	2.31

FMC has a consensus price target of $49.58, suggesting a potential upside of 56.28%. Given FMC’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe FMC is more favorable than YaSheng Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares YaSheng Group and FMC”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
YaSheng Group	$18.59 million	N/A	$5.31 million	N/A	N/A
FMC	$4.25 billion	0.93	$341.10 million	$0.80	39.66

FMC has higher revenue and earnings than YaSheng Group.

Profitability

This table compares YaSheng Group and FMC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
YaSheng Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
FMC	2.42%	9.36%	3.51%

Summary

FMC beats YaSheng Group on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About YaSheng Group

YaSheng Group, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets farming and sideline products; chemical materials and products; textiles; construction materials; and livestock and poultry products primarily in the People's Republic of China. It cultivates, processes, markets, and distributes various food and agro-byproducts. The company's products include cotton, corns, barley, wheat, flax, and alfalfa; vegetables comprising onions, potatoes, beet, and peas; fruits, including apples, pears, and apricots; specialty crops consisting of hops, wolfberries, cumin, hemp, and liquorices; seeds, such as black melon, sunflower, corn, hemp, and flax seeds; and eggs. It also provides construction materials, such as cement; and designs, develops, and markets new technologies related to agriculture and genetic biology. The company sells its products to food processors, supermarkets, and wholesale stores through distributors, as well as to direct customers. YaSheng Group exports its products. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Lanzhou, the People's Republic of China. As of December 31, 2015, YaSheng Group is a subsidiary of Gansu Yasheng Salt Chemical Industrial Group, Ltd.

About FMC

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control. The company markets its products through its own sales organization and through alliance partners, independent distributors, and sales representatives. It operates in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.