Critical Comparison: Kronos Worldwide (KRO) vs. OM Group (OMG)

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE: KRO) and OM Group (NYSE:OMG) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Kronos Worldwide and OM Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kronos Worldwide	1	1	0	0	1.50
OM Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

Kronos Worldwide currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.82%. Given Kronos Worldwide’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Kronos Worldwide is more favorable than OM Group.

Profitability

This table compares Kronos Worldwide and OM Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kronos Worldwide	18.57%	24.73%	9.09%
OM Group	3.68%	4.22%	2.58%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.9% of Kronos Worldwide shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Kronos Worldwide shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kronos Worldwide and OM Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kronos Worldwide	$1.50 billion	1.51	$240.60 million	$2.41	8.09
OM Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Kronos Worldwide has higher revenue and earnings than OM Group.

Dividends

Kronos Worldwide pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. OM Group does not pay a dividend. Kronos Worldwide pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Kronos Worldwide beats OM Group on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kronos Worldwide

Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (Kronos) is a producer and marketer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments, a base industrial product that is used in a range of applications. The Company, along with its distributors and agents, sells and provides technical services for its products with sales in Europe and North America. It offers its customers a portfolio of products that include TiO2 pigment grades under the Kronos brand, which provides a range of performance properties. It offers its products to domestic and international paint, plastics, decorative laminate and paper manufacturers. It ships TiO2 to its customers in either a powder or slurry form through rail, truck or ocean carrier. It sells and provides technical services for its products in three end use markets, which include coatings, plastics and paper. It produces TiO2 in two crystalline forms, which include rutile and anatase. Rutile TiO2 is manufactured using both a chloride production process and a sulfate production process.

About OM Group

OM Group, Inc. is a United States-based industrial company. The Company is engaged in serving global markets, including automotive systems, electronic devices, aerospace and defense, industrial and medical. It operates in three business segments: Magnetic Technologies, Battery Technologies and Specialty Chemicals. Its Magnetic Technologies segment develops, manufactures and distributes industrial-use magnetic materials and related products to an array of end markets, including automotive systems, electrical installation technology, industrial, retail and renewable energy. The Company’s Battery Technologies segment provides batteries, battery management systems, and energetic devices for defense, space and medical markets. The Company’s Specialty Chemicals segment develops, produces and supplies chemicals for electronic applications, industrial applications including coatings, composites and tire, and photomasks used by customers to produce semiconductors and related products.