Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) Head-To-Head Contrast

Johnson Matthey (OTCMKTS:JMPLY) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Dividends

Johnson Matthey pays an annual dividend of $1.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 169.5%. Standard Lithium pays out 339.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Johnson Matthey and Standard Lithium, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Johnson Matthey	0	0	0	0	0.00
Standard Lithium	0	0	2	0	3.00

Standard Lithium has a consensus price target of $3.95, indicating a potential upside of 234.75%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Johnson Matthey.

Volatility and Risk

Johnson Matthey has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Johnson Matthey and Standard Lithium”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Johnson Matthey	$16.14 billion	0.16	$135.76 million	N/A	N/A
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.59	2.00

Johnson Matthey has higher revenue and earnings than Standard Lithium.

Profitability

This table compares Johnson Matthey and Standard Lithium’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Johnson Matthey	N/A	N/A	N/A
Standard Lithium	N/A	-11.52%	-10.25%

Summary

Standard Lithium beats Johnson Matthey on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Johnson Matthey

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, they improve the function, performance and safety of their customers’ products. Their science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with their network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.