Northern Technologies International (NTIC) Competitors

Northern Technologies International (NASDAQ:NTIC) and AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, community ranking, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Do analysts rate NTIC or AZZ?

Northern Technologies International currently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.58%. AZZ has a consensus target price of $88.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.31%. Given Northern Technologies International's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Northern Technologies International is more favorable than AZZ.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Technologies International	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
AZZ	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NTIC or AZZ?

32.9% of Northern Technologies International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of AZZ shares are held by institutional investors. 22.1% of Northern Technologies International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of AZZ shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NTIC or AZZ?

AZZ received 118 more outperform votes than Northern Technologies International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.14% of users gave AZZ an outperform vote while only 51.60% of users gave Northern Technologies International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northern Technologies International	Outperform Votes 177 51.60%	Underperform Votes 166 48.40%
AZZ	Outperform Votes 295 55.14%	Underperform Votes 240 44.86%

Is NTIC or AZZ a better dividend stock?

Northern Technologies International pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. AZZ pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Northern Technologies International pays out 53.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AZZ pays out 19.8% 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.

Does the media refer more to NTIC or AZZ?

In the previous week, Northern Technologies International and Northern Technologies International both had 5 articles in the media. Northern Technologies International's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat AZZ's score of 0.83 indicating that Northern Technologies International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northern Technologies International	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AZZ	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NTIC or AZZ more profitable?

AZZ has a net margin of 6.61% compared to Northern Technologies International's net margin of 6.12%. AZZ's return on equity of 15.66% beat Northern Technologies International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Technologies International	6.12%	6.68%	5.37%
AZZ	6.61%	15.66%	6.02%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, NTIC or AZZ?

AZZ has higher revenue and earnings than Northern Technologies International. AZZ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northern Technologies International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northern Technologies International	$82.70M	2.10	$2.91M	$0.52	35.42
AZZ	$1.54B	1.62	$101.61M	$3.43	24.45

Which has more volatility and risk, NTIC or AZZ?

Northern Technologies International has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AZZ has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AZZ beats Northern Technologies International on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.