To effectively analyze Solvay's share price, you can read some useful information here such as its live price, a historical technical analysis of its prices and data on the activities of this Belgian company.
First of all, let's remember that the Solvay share is known as a cyclical and highly volatile stock. You must therefore take into account fundamental analysis in order to profit from these cycles when taking positions.
The Solvay group could also be subject to certain risks linked to the increasingly strong competition from shale gas derivatives for polyamide and PVC, mainly in Europe and in the emerging countries, which therefore directly impact its specialty polymers activity. We will therefore have to keep a close eye on this market.
We will also be waiting to see the impact of some of the group's recent innovations, such as those tested by the Solar Impulse aircraft, which could benefit or harm the group.
The Solvay group could also, in the more or less long term, dispose of certain activities considered more risky or less profitable, such as the polyamide activities. These operations, such as buyouts or joint ventures, will of course have to be considered with the greatest attention.
The Group's annual objectives will of course also have to be closely monitored by checking each quarter the publication of results and their consistency with the Group's forecasts.
The Solvay group is a Belgian group active in the advanced materials and specialty chemicals sector. More specifically, the company is involved in the development of solutions to meet major societal challenges.
In this sense, the Solvay group acts through innovation, in partnership with its main customers in various end markets, including the aeronautics sector, the automotive sector, the battery sector, the electronics sector, the health sector and the mining, gas and oil extraction sector. The group's objective is to enable these customers to combine greater efficiency and durability of their equipment and products.
Solvay specializes in lightweighting materials to enable more sustainable mobility. Solvay's formulations help to increase the optimization of resources and high performance materials and also improve water and air quality.
Solvay is currently headquartered in Brussels and employs over 24,500 people. The group operates and markets its products and solutions in more than 62 different countries.
We now propose to discover the main adversaries of Solvay in its main sector of activity with the major world players in the chemical sector and a brief description of their activities:
This French company and chemical group is specialised in the specialty chemicals and high-performance materials sector. It is based in Hauts de Seine and currently employs over 20,500 people. The group operates and markets its products in more than 55 countries worldwide.
Of course, the BASF group is also a major competitor of Solvay. This German chemical group is currently the largest in the world. The group's headquarters, which was founded in 1865, is currently located in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine in Germany and covers an area of over 10 km2 . It employs more than 34,000 people who work in the development, testing, manufacturing and sales of several thousand products.
This other direct competitor of Solvay is specialised in chemistry and more precisely in materials science. The company was spun off in 2015 from the Bayer group, which still holds a 53% stake in this company. In September 2017, Bayer's stake in Covestro was reduced to 24.6% after successive sales of shares. Later in 2018, Bayer retained only 6.8% of the group's shares. Covestro also recently bought the resin business of DSM.
The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical manufacturing and distribution company based in Michigan. It is the world's second largest chemical producer by revenue and the third largest chemical company by capital.
Finally, the DuPont Group is another American company that has been around since 1802 and is based in Delaware. It used to be a gunpowder factory, but is now one of the world's largest industrial groups in the chemical sector. Over the past century, the company has pioneered plastics by inventing nylon and developing other polymeric materials such as neoprene, Teflon, Kevlar and Lycra. DuPont also developed nuclear expertise during World War II by building a plutonium production plant at the Hanford nuclear complex for the Manhattan Project. It later built the Savannah River Site nuclear complex.
In 2006, the Solvay group signed a partnership with the Chinese company Zhejiang Lantian Environmental Protection Hi-Tech Co. Ltd for the creation of a joint venture in the production and supply of hydrogen fluoride.
In 2014, Solvay had created a joint venture with another group in the same sector, Ineos, in the production of PVC. Finally, Solvay recently exited this joint venture.
In 2016, it was the American company Boeing that joined forces with Solvay in a joint venture enabling the chemical company to supply composite materials for the tailplane and floor support struts of the group's new 777X program.
First of all, let us recall that the Solvay group is one of the oldest groups in its sector of activity, namely specialty chemicals. It has now become a pure player in this field and has a very strong presence in France since the acquisition of Rhodia in 2011.
Still from the point of view of this company's positioning on its market, we can also emphasize that its international presence is also interesting. Solvay benefits from an excellent geographic distribution of its activities, with 30% of its sales realized in Europe, 37% in America and 33% in Asia. Thanks to this homogeneous distribution, the Group is protected against risks linked to local economic or regulatory events.
The Solvay group has also been able to reassure investors thanks to the distribution of its offers on different target markets.
Analysts specialising in this stock also agree that one of the group's greatest strengths is its quality strategy. This strategy is based on three main points: firstly, the reduction of cyclical activities in favour of high performance solutions through Novecare, polymers and specialty chemicals or for the automotive and connected objects sectors. The second point is of course innovation, which is the company's core business, and the last point concerns its positioning and expansion worldwide.
If Solvay's strategy shows great interest, so does the company's management. Analysts point in particular to the group's good ability to increase its sales prices, which is proof of its negotiating strength and increased customer loyalty.
The recent fall in the value of the euro is also an undeniable advantage for the Solvay group, which is thus more competitive with its main competitors and in its sales abroad. The same is true of the fall in the price of raw materials, which are essential to the Group and which are helping to lower its production costs.
Finally, the Solvay group is appreciated by investors and shareholders for its solid and stable financial structure. This has been rebalanced following the sale of the group's shares in Inovyn and the acquisition of Cytec, a company specializing in the aerospace sector.
First of all, it should be remembered that the Belgian group Solvay is not one of the best known companies among investors and thus suffers from a lack of popularity, particularly in France among private individuals, whereas some of its major competitors are very well followed and their shares more volatile.
There are also significant disparities in some of the group's divisions, with the advanced formulations division in particular having suffered recently from the decline in global oil and gas demand.
The Group's activities and revenues are also negatively influenced by the current European economic situation. This applies in particular to the construction and automotive sectors, to which the Solvay group sells its polymers and "essential chemicals" products.
Finally, we can also regret the lack of visibility on the strategies implemented by the group, particularly following the recent abandonment of the roadmap put in place in 2016 and which had to be revised following the significant drop in demand in the gas and oil sector. It should be remembered that these sectors alone account for almost 5% of the company's sales. This abandonment was also motivated by the destocking on the market of smartphones and tablets as well as by the delay in the opening of the Saudi factory of the group.
The capital of the Solvay group is currently held in part by institutional shareholders or investment funds, including the Solvac family with 30.7% of the shares, The Vanguard Group with 3.01% of the shares, Polaris Capital Management with 0.72%, Lyxor International Management with 0.65%, Candriam Belgium with 0.63%, AXA Investment Managers with 0.61%, Dimensional Fund Advisors with 0.55% and BNP Paribas Asset Management with 0.49%.
To try to detect future price trends before buying or selling the Solvay share, it is necessary to carry out several types of analysis, including fundamental analysis and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis is based on the study of events and publications that may influence the share price. As for technical analysis, it will study more specifically the graphical movements by using different trend and volatility indicators as well as strategic points.
The Solvay group does allow its shareholders to receive a dividend through its shares on the stock exchange. Currently, the amount of this dividend is € 3.75 per share, which represents a yield of 4.21%. This dividend is paid twice a year, in January and May. In addition, this company is a regular payer as it has paid its shareholders every year without interruption since 2002.
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