Financial Review: Clorox (NYSE:CLX) and Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH)

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) and Tantech (NASDAQ:TANH) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Clorox and Tantech”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clorox	$6.72 billion	1.67	$587.00 million	$4.82	19.30
Tantech	$38.36 million	0.07	-$31.02 million	N/A	N/A

Clorox has higher revenue and earnings than Tantech.

Profitability

This table compares Clorox and Tantech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clorox	8.74%	522.23%	10.64%
Tantech	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Clorox and Tantech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clorox	5	12	0	0	1.71
Tantech	1	0	0	0	1.00

Clorox currently has a consensus price target of $102.40, suggesting a potential upside of 10.05%. Given Clorox’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Clorox is more favorable than Tantech.

Volatility and Risk

Clorox has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tantech has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.5% of Clorox shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.0% of Tantech shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Clorox shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Tantech shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Clorox beats Tantech on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clorox

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States. The Household segment provides cat litter products under the Fresh Step and Scoop Away brands; bags and wraps under the Glad brand; and grilling products under the Kingsford brand in the United States. The Lifestyle segment offers dressings, dips, seasonings, and sauces primarily under the Hidden Valley brand; natural personal care products under the Burt's Bees brand; and water-filtration products under the Brita brand in the United States. The International segment provides laundry additives; home care products; water-filtration systems; digestive health products; grilling products; cat litter products; food products; bags and wraps; natural personal care products; and professional cleaning and disinfecting products internationally primarily under the Clorox, Ayudin, Clorinda, Poett, Pine-Sol, Glad, Brita, RenewLife, Ever Clean and Burt's Bees brands. It sells its products primarily through mass retailers; grocery outlets; warehouse clubs; dollar stores; home hardware centers; drug, pet, and military stores; third-party and owned e-commerce channels; and distributors, as well as a direct sales force The Clorox Company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.

About Tantech

Tantech Holdings Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures bamboo-based charcoal products for industrial energy, household cooking, heating, purification, agricultural, and cleaning applications in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Consumer Products, Electric Vehicles, and Biodegradable Packaging. It provides pressed and formed charcoal briquettes for use in grills, incense burners, and other applications under the Algold brand. The company also offers Charcoal Doctor branded products, such as air purifiers and humidifiers, automotive accessories for air purification, underfloor humidity control products, pillows and mattresses, wardrobe deodorizers, mouse pads and wrist mats, refrigerator deodorants, charcoal toilet cleaner disks, liquid charcoal cleaners, shoe insoles, and decorative charcoal gifts. In addition, it provides bamboo vinegar, a liquid byproduct for use in disinfectants, detergents, lotions, specialized soaps, toilet cleaners, and fertilizers, as well as in various agricultural applications; and trades in charcoal products. Further, the company develops and sells electric buses, electric logistics cars, and specialty electric vehicles, such as brushless cleaning cars, electric cleaning cars, special emergency vehicles, and funeral cars; and solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, auto parts, and electric control systems. It is also involved in the biodegradable packaging and supply chain businesses, as well as provides commercial factoring services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Lishui, the People's Republic of China.