Reviewing Ashland (NYSE:ASH) and Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA)

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) and Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE:AXTA) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.0% of Ashland shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Ashland shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Axalta Coating Systems shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Ashland and Axalta Coating Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashland	2	3	6	0	2.36
Axalta Coating Systems	0	12	4	0	2.25

Ashland presently has a consensus price target of $62.78, indicating a potential upside of 8.29%. Axalta Coating Systems has a consensus price target of $34.15, indicating a potential upside of 10.78%. Given Axalta Coating Systems’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Axalta Coating Systems is more favorable than Ashland.

Volatility & Risk

Ashland has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Axalta Coating Systems has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ashland and Axalta Coating Systems”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashland	$1.82 billion	1.46	-$845.00 million	($15.42)	-3.76
Axalta Coating Systems	$5.12 billion	1.29	$378.00 million	$1.71	18.03

Axalta Coating Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Ashland. Ashland is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Axalta Coating Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ashland and Axalta Coating Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	-39.03%	8.06%	3.33%
Axalta Coating Systems	7.22%	22.37%	6.92%

Summary

Axalta Coating Systems beats Ashland on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions. Its Personal Care segment provides a range of nature-based, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. Its Intermediates segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ashland Inc. in August 2022. Ashland Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Mobility Coatings. It also offers water and solvent-borne products and systems to repair damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops. In addition, the company provides functional and decorative liquid, and powder coatings used in various industrial applications, including building materials, cabinet, wood and luxury vinyl flooring and furniture market under the Voltatex, AquaEC, Durapon, Hydropon, UNRIVALED, Ceranamel, Industrial, Corlar Industrial, Tufcote, Imron Industrial, Alesta, Teodur, Nap-Gard, Abcite, and Plascoat brands for powder coatings. Further, it develops and supplies electrocoat, primer, the basecoat, and clearcoat products for OEMs of light and commercial vehicles; and coatings systems for various commercial applications, including HDT, MDT, bus, and rail under the Imron, Imron Elite, Centari, Rival, Corlar epoxy undercoats, and AquaEC brands. The company offers products under the Audurra, Abcite, Alesta, AquaEC, Centari, Ceranamel, Challenger, Chemophan, ColorNet, Cromax, Cromax Mosaic, Durapon 70, Duxone, Harmonized Coating Technologies, Imron ExcelPro, Lutophen, Nason, Spies Hecker, Standox, Stollaquid, Syntopal, Syrox, Raptor, U-POL, and Vermeera brand names. The company was formerly known as Axalta Coating Systems Bermuda Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. in August 2014. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.