Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) & DPM Metals (OTCMKTS:DPMLF) Head-To-Head Comparison

DPM Metals (OTCMKTS:DPMLF) and Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Dividends

DPM Metals pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Friedman Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. DPM Metals pays out 5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Friedman Industries pays out 4.2% 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. Friedman Industries has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Friedman Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares DPM Metals and Friedman Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DPM Metals	50.26%	25.66%	21.67%
Friedman Industries	3.63%	18.29%	8.19%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.3% of Friedman Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of DPM Metals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Friedman Industries shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DPM Metals and Friedman Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DPM Metals	$950.48 million	9.61	$369.23 million	$3.04	13.70
Friedman Industries	$646.91 million	0.45	$19.53 million	$3.84	10.54

DPM Metals has higher revenue and earnings than Friedman Industries. Friedman Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DPM Metals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

DPM Metals has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Friedman Industries has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for DPM Metals and Friedman Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DPM Metals	0	2	3	0	2.60
Friedman Industries	0	0	1	0	3.00

About DPM Metals

Dundee Precious Metals Inc., a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and processing of precious metals. The company primarily explores for gold, copper, and silver deposits. It holds a portfolio of projects located in Bulgaria, Namibia, Serbia, and Ecuador. The company is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Friedman Industries

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils. This segment also processes customer-owned coils on a fee basis. The company sells coil products and processing services to approximately 200 customers located primarily in the midwestern, southwestern and southeastern regions of the United States. Its principal customers for these products and services are steel distributors and customers manufacturing steel products, such as steel buildings, railroad cars, barges, tanks and containers, trailers, component parts and other fabricated steel products. The Tubular segment manufactures line and oil country pipes, as well as pipes for structural applications. This segment sells its tubular products principally to steel and pipe distributors through its own sales force. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Longview, Texas.