Element Solutions (ESI) Competitors

Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) and Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Littelfuse. Element Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Littelfuse, 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
Element Solutions	$2.46B	2.44	$244.20M	$1.19	20.76
Littelfuse	$2.19B	2.64	$100.19M	$4.32	54.13

Is ESI or LFUS a better dividend stock?

Element Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Littelfuse pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Element Solutions pays out 26.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Littelfuse pays out 64.8% 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. Littelfuse has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Element Solutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Littelfuse has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of ESI or LFUS?

92.3% of Element Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Littelfuse shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of Element Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Littelfuse shares 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.

Does the media favor ESI or LFUS?

In the previous week, Element Solutions had 15 more articles in the media than Littelfuse. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Element Solutions and 6 mentions for Littelfuse. Littelfuse's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Element Solutions' score of 1.14 indicating that Littelfuse is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Element Solutions	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Littelfuse	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ESI or LFUS more profitable?

Element Solutions has a net margin of 11.56% compared to Littelfuse's net margin of 4.89%. Element Solutions' return on equity of 14.42% beat Littelfuse's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Element Solutions	11.56%	14.42%	7.14%
Littelfuse	4.89%	9.00%	5.65%

Do analysts prefer ESI or LFUS?

Element Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $26.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.28%. Littelfuse has a consensus target price of $252.25, suggesting a potential upside of 7.87%. Given Littelfuse's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Littelfuse is more favorable than Element Solutions.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Element Solutions	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Littelfuse	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Summary

Element Solutions beats Littelfuse on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.