Compass Minerals International (CMP) Competitors

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) and Materion (NYSE:MTRN) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CMP or MTRN?

99.8% of Compass Minerals International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Materion shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Compass Minerals International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Materion shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CMP or MTRN more profitable?

Materion has a net margin of 0.59% compared to Compass Minerals International's net margin of -12.15%. Materion's return on equity of 12.83% beat Compass Minerals International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Minerals International	-12.15%	-24.24%	-4.36%
Materion	0.59%	12.83%	6.49%

Does the media refer more to CMP or MTRN?

In the previous week, Materion had 3 more articles in the media than Compass Minerals International. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Materion and 3 mentions for Compass Minerals International. Compass Minerals International's average media sentiment score of 0.51 beat Materion's score of 0.37 indicating that Compass Minerals International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Compass Minerals International	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Materion	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is CMP or MTRN a better dividend stock?

Compass Minerals International pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Materion pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Compass Minerals International pays out -16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Materion pays out 112.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Materion has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Compass Minerals International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, CMP or MTRN?

Compass Minerals International has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Materion has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CMP or MTRN?

Compass Minerals International presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, suggesting a potential downside of 15.25%. Given Compass Minerals International's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Compass Minerals International is more favorable than Materion.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Minerals International	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Materion	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, CMP or MTRN?

Materion has higher revenue and earnings than Compass Minerals International. Compass Minerals International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Materion, 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
Compass Minerals International	$1.21B	0.77	-$206.10M	-$3.56	-6.30
Materion	$1.68B	1.06	$5.89M	$0.50	171.18

Summary

Materion beats Compass Minerals International on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.