Reviewing LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) & Solstice Advanced Mat (NASDAQ:SOLS)

Solstice Advanced Mat (NASDAQ:SOLS) and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

Solstice Advanced Mat pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $2.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Solstice Advanced Mat pays out 16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LyondellBasell Industries pays out -244.2% 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. LyondellBasell Industries has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. LyondellBasell Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Solstice Advanced Mat and LyondellBasell Industries”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solstice Advanced Mat	$3.89 billion	2.56	$237.00 million	$1.77	35.40
LyondellBasell Industries	$30.15 billion	0.68	-$738.00 million	($1.13)	-56.42

Solstice Advanced Mat has higher earnings, but lower revenue than LyondellBasell Industries. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solstice Advanced Mat, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Solstice Advanced Mat and LyondellBasell Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solstice Advanced Mat	5.13%	14.28%	4.82%
LyondellBasell Industries	-1.13%	17.44%	5.30%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Solstice Advanced Mat shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of LyondellBasell 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Solstice Advanced Mat and LyondellBasell Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solstice Advanced Mat	0	3	7	1	2.82
LyondellBasell Industries	3	8	9	1	2.38

Solstice Advanced Mat presently has a consensus target price of $78.25, indicating a potential upside of 24.90%. LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus target price of $72.56, indicating a potential upside of 13.80%. Given Solstice Advanced Mat’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Solstice Advanced Mat is more favorable than LyondellBasell Industries.

Summary

LyondellBasell Industries beats Solstice Advanced Mat on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solstice Advanced Mat

Solstice Advanced Materials is a leading global specialty materials company that advances science for smarter outcomes. Solstice offers high-performance solutions that enable critical industries and applications, including refrigerants, semiconductor manufacturing, data center cooling, nuclear power, protective fibers, healthcare packaging and more.

About LyondellBasell Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology. It produces and markets olefins and co-products, polyethylene, and polypropylene; and propylene oxide and derivatives; oxyfuels and related products; and intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, acetyls, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. In addition, the company produce and markets compounding and solutions including polypropylene compounds, engineered plastics, masterbatches, engineered composites, colors and powders, and advanced polymers including catalloy and polybutene-1; and refines heavy, high-sulfur crude oil and other crude oils, as well as refined products, including gasoline and distillates. Further, it develops and licenses chemical and polyolefin process technologies; manufactures and sells polyolefin catalysts; and serves food packaging, home furnishings, automotive components, and paints and coatings applications. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.