Head-To-Head Survey: Air Products and Chemicals (APD) & Its Peers

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) is one of 295 publicly-traded companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Air Products and Chemicals to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Air Products and Chemicals has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Products and Chemicals’ competitors have a beta of 0.93, suggesting that their average stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Air Products and Chemicals and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Products and Chemicals	0	7	10	2	2.74
Air Products and Chemicals Competitors	3241	12199	14119	516	2.40

Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus price target of $333.88, suggesting a potential upside of 7.71%. As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 8.03%. Given Air Products and Chemicals’ competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Air Products and Chemicals has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.7% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Air Products and Chemicals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies 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.

Dividends

Air Products and Chemicals pays an annual dividend of $7.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Air Products and Chemicals pays out -3,290.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Chemicals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 105.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Air Products and Chemicals has raised its dividend for 43 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Products and Chemicals	$12.04 billion	-$394.50 million	-1,409.00
Air Products and Chemicals Competitors	$8.00 billion	$222.31 million	-1.27

Air Products and Chemicals has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Air Products and Chemicals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Air Products and Chemicals and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Products and Chemicals	-0.38%	16.87%	7.18%
Air Products and Chemicals Competitors	-59.66%	0.26%	-1.43%

Summary

Air Products and Chemicals beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals. It also designs and manufactures equipment for air separation, hydrocarbon recovery and purification, natural gas liquefaction, and liquid helium and liquid hydrogen transport and storage. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.