Contrasting Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI)

Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) and Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Standard Lithium	N/A	-11.52%	-10.25%
Innospec	7.68%	13.33%	9.18%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Standard Lithium and Innospec”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	$0.59	3.03
Innospec	$1.95 billion	1.52	$139.10 million	$5.73	20.70

Innospec has higher revenue and earnings than Standard Lithium. Standard Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Innospec, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Standard Lithium and Innospec, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

Standard Lithium presently has a consensus price target of $3.95, suggesting a potential upside of 120.67%. Given Standard Lithium’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Innospec.

Volatility & Risk

Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Innospec has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 111.7%. Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. 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. Innospec pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Innospec shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Innospec beats Standard Lithium on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Innospec

Innospec Inc. develops, manufactures, blends, markets, and supplies specialty chemicals in the United States, rest of North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company's Fuel Specialties segment offers a range of specialty chemical products that are used as additives in additives in diesel, jet, marine, fuel oil and other fuels. This segment's products are used in the operation of commercial trucking, marine and aviation engines, power station generators, heating oil, and other industrial machinery applications. Its Performance Chemicals segment provides technology-based solutions for its customers' processes or products that focuses on the personal care, home care, agrochemical, construction, mining, and other industrial markets. The company's Oilfield Services segment develops and markets chemical solutions for drilling, completion, fracturing, stimulation, and completion operations; and products for oil and gas production. It sells its products primarily to oil and gas exploration and production companies, oil refineries, fuel manufacturers and users, personal care and home care companies, formulators of agrochemical, and other chemical and industrial companies. The company was formerly known as Octel Corp. and changed its name to Innospec Inc. in January 2006. Innospec Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.