Critical Review: Northern Technologies International (NTIC) & Its Peers

Northern Technologies International (NASDAQ:NTIC) is one of 295 publicly-traded companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Northern Technologies International to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Northern Technologies International has a beta of 0.15, indicating that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northern Technologies International’s competitors have a beta of 1.09, indicating that their average stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Northern Technologies International and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Technologies International	-1.26%	-0.45%	-0.33%
Northern Technologies International Competitors	-59.66%	0.26%	-1.43%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Northern Technologies International and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northern Technologies International	$91.84 million	$20,000.00	-62.08
Northern Technologies International Competitors	$8.01 billion	$222.31 million	-0.84

Northern Technologies International’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Northern Technologies International. Northern Technologies International 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.

Dividends

Northern Technologies International pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Northern Technologies International pays out -33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Chemicals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 102.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.9% of Northern Technologies International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 24.9% of Northern Technologies International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Northern Technologies International and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Technologies International	1	1	0	0	1.50
Northern Technologies International Competitors	3245	12204	14127	516	2.40

As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 8.86%. Given Northern Technologies International’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Northern Technologies International has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Northern Technologies International competitors beat Northern Technologies International on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Northern Technologies International Company Profile

Northern Technologies International Corporation develops and markets rust and corrosion inhibiting solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and internationally. It offers rust and corrosion inhibiting products, such as plastic and paper packaging, liquids, coatings, rust removers, cleaners, diffusers, and engineered solutions designed for the oil and gas industry under the ZERUST brand. The company provides a portfolio of bio-based and certified compostable polymer resin compounds and finished products under the Natur-Tec brand. In addition, it offers on-site and technical consulting for rust and corrosion prevention issues. It sells its products and services to automotive, electronics, electrical, mechanical, military, retail consumer, and oil and gas markets through direct sales force, network of independent distributors, agents, manufacturer's sales representatives, and strategic partners. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Circle Pines, Minnesota.