BioLargo (NASDAQ:BLGO) vs. Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) Critical Analysis

Basf (OTCMKTS:BASFY) and BioLargo (NASDAQ:BLGO) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Basf and BioLargo”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Basf	$74.57 billion	0.51	$243.52 million	$0.16	66.63
BioLargo	$12.23 million	6.10	-$3.50 million	($0.01)	-24.80

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

Volatility & Risk

Basf has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioLargo has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Basf and BioLargo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Basf	0.78%	6.53%	3.09%
BioLargo	-11.45%	-39.90%	-22.06%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Basf and BioLargo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Basf	1	3	3	1	2.50
BioLargo	0	0	0	0	0.00

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Basf shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of BioLargo shares are held by institutional investors. 20.3% of BioLargo shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Basf beats BioLargo on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Basf

BASF SE operates as a chemical company worldwide. It operates through six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions. The Chemicals segment provides petrochemicals and intermediates. The Materials segment offers advanced materials and their precursors for applications and systems comprising isocyanates, polyamides, and inorganic basic products, as well as specialties for plastics and plastics processing industries. The Industrial Solutions segment develops and markets ingredients and additives for industrial applications, such as polymer dispersions, resins, additives, electronic materials, and antioxidants for automotive, plastics, paints and coatings, electronics, and energy and resource industries. The Surface Technologies segment provides automotive OEM and refinish coatings, surface treatment, catalysts, battery materials, and precious and base metal services for the automotive and chemical sectors. The Nutrition & Care segment offers ingredients for consumer goods in the areas of nutrition, home, personal care, and technical applications; and serves the food and feed producers, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, detergents, cleaners, and crop protection industries, as well as fast-moving consumer goods sector. The Agricultural Solutions segment provides seeds and seed treatment products; fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biological crop protection products; and digital farming solutions. The company engages in engineering and other; rental and leasing; and commodity trading activities. BASF SE was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.

About BioLargo

BioLargo, Inc. invents, develops, and commercializes various platform technologies. Its technologies solve challenging environmental problems comprising per – and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) water contamination, advanced water and wastewater treatment, industrial odor and volatile organic compounds control, air quality control, infection control, and myriad environmental remediation. The company provides full-service environmental engineering services. BioLargo, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Westminster, California.