CMOC Group (OTCMKTS:CMCLF) & Standard Lithium (OTCMKTS:SLI) Critical Analysis

CMOC Group (OTCMKTS:CMCLF) and Standard Lithium (OTCMKTS:SLI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

CMOC Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.0%. Standard Lithium pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 148.1%. CMOC Group pays out 40.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Standard Lithium pays out -869.6% 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. Standard Lithium is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CMOC Group and Standard Lithium’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CMOC Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.31	2.39
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	-$30.10 million	($0.23)	-5.87

Standard Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CMOC Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CMOC Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Standard Lithium	0	0	3	0	3.00

Standard Lithium has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 159.26%. Given Standard Lithium’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than CMOC Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.2% of CMOC Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CMOC Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Standard Lithium	N/A	-12.51%	-12.09%

Summary

Standard Lithium beats CMOC Group on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CMOC Group

CMOC Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, beneficiation, smelting, refining, and trading of copper, cobalt, molybdenum, phosphates, and other base and rare metals. The company provides import and export of goods and technology, consulting, enterprise operating and management, logistics, and transportation businesses. It has operations in China, Australia, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Switzerland, and internationally. The company was formerly known as China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. and changed its name to CMOC Group Limited in June 2022. CMOC Group Limited was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Luoyang, the People's Republic of China.

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.