Head-To-Head Contrast: Westaim (OTCMKTS:WEDXF) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX)

Westaim (OTCMKTS:WEDXF) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Westaim and Minerals Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westaim	$17.04 million	39.39	-$16.18 million	($1.40)	-14.29
Minerals Technologies	$2.12 billion	0.90	$167.10 million	$0.06	1,010.03

Minerals Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Westaim. Westaim is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Minerals Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of Westaim shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Minerals Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Westaim has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Westaim and Minerals Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westaim	0	0	0	0	0.00
Minerals Technologies	1	0	1	0	2.00

Minerals Technologies has a consensus target price of $84.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.61%. Given Minerals Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than Westaim.

Profitability

This table compares Westaim and Minerals Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westaim	-118.02%	-5.51%	-4.97%
Minerals Technologies	0.10%	10.64%	5.34%

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Westaim on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westaim

The Westaim Corporation is a private equity firm specializing in direct and indirect investments through acquisitions, joint ventures, secondary investments both direct and indirect, fund of fund investments, and other arrangements. For direct investments, the firm invests in early venture, mid venture, late venture, middle market, later stage, mature, emerging growth, PIPEs, and buyout transactions. For fund of fund investments, it seeks to invest in private equity funds, venture capital funds, and hedge funds. The firm seeks to provide long term capital to businesses operating in the global financial services industry. It typically acquires controlling interests in businesses. The firm seeks to acquire debt, equity, or derivative securities of both public and private companies. It invests with the objective of providing its shareholders with capital appreciation and real wealth preservation. The firm seeks to provide its portfolio companies with advisory services including, but not limited to, advice on capital allocation, financing strategy, performance measurement and merger and acquisition support. It also seeks to partner with like-minded providers of third party capital to help supplement the firm's own capital, when completing acquisitions. The firm generally seeks to hold its investments for seven to 15 years. The Westaim Corporation was founded in 1996 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.