Comparing Mitsui & Co. (OTCMKTS:MITSY) & Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC)

Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) and Mitsui & Co. (OTCMKTS:MITSY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Dividends

Boise Cascade pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Mitsui & Co. pays an annual dividend of $11.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Boise Cascade pays out 31.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mitsui & Co. pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Boise Cascade has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Mitsui & Co. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Boise Cascade and Mitsui & Co.”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boise Cascade	$6.40 billion	0.42	$132.84 million	$2.95	26.18
Mitsui & Co.	$92.97 billion	1.00	$5.21 billion	$42.41	15.29

Mitsui & Co. has higher revenue and earnings than Boise Cascade. Mitsui & Co. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Boise Cascade, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.2% of Boise Cascade shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Boise Cascade shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Mitsui & Co. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Boise Cascade and Mitsui & Co., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boise Cascade	1	3	3	0	2.29
Mitsui & Co.	0	1	0	0	2.00

Boise Cascade currently has a consensus target price of $93.60, suggesting a potential upside of 21.20%. Given Boise Cascade’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Boise Cascade is more favorable than Mitsui & Co..

Profitability

This table compares Boise Cascade and Mitsui & Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boise Cascade	1.64%	5.41%	3.34%
Mitsui & Co.	6.22%	10.67%	4.76%

Volatility and Risk

Boise Cascade has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mitsui & Co. has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mitsui & Co. beats Boise Cascade on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boise Cascade

Boise Cascade Company engages in manufacture of wood products and distribution of building materials in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments, Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution. The Wood Products segment manufactures laminated veneer lumber and laminated beams used in headers and beams; I-joists for residential and commercial flooring and roofing systems, and other structural applications; structural, appearance, and industrial plywood panels; and ponderosa pine shop lumber and appearance grade boards. The Building Materials Distribution segment distributes a line of building materials, including oriented strand boards, plywood, and lumber; general line items, such as siding, composite decking, doors, metal products, insulation, and roofing; and engineered wood products. It markets and sells its products to dealers, home improvement centers, wholesalers, specialty distributors, and industrial converters for use in the construction of new residential housing, repair-and-remodeling of existing housing, construction of light industrial and commercial buildings, and other industrial applications. Boise Cascade Company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

About Mitsui & Co.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. operates as an trading and investment company worldwide. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of steel products; steel processing, maintenance, and recycling activities; investment, development, and trading of mineral and metal resources, as well as resource recycling and industrial developing solutions; and upstream development, logistics, and trading of energy resources, such as natural gas/LNG, oil, coal, and uranium. It also offers power, gas, water, rail, and logistics systems; sales, financing, lease, transportation, and logistics services; and invests in plants, offshore energy development, ships, aviation, space, railways, and automotives, as well as machinery for mining, construction, and industrial use. In addition, the company provides basic chemicals and inorganic raw materials, functional materials, electronic materials, specialty chemicals, housing and lifestyle materials, agri-inputs, animal/human nutrition, and health products; and logistics infrastructures services, including tank terminal operation, as well as plastic recycling and next-generation energy, such as hydrogen and ammonia and forest resources businesses. Further, it engages in the food resources and products, merchandising, retail, fashion and textiles, wellness, healthcare, pharma, hospitality, and human capital businesses. Additionally, it is involved in the ICT, finance, real estate, and logistics businesses. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Mitsui E&P Italia B operates as a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.