Innospec (IOSP) Competitors

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings and media sentiment.

Is IOSP or FFBC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 19.41% compared to Innospec's net margin of 1.08%. Innospec's return on equity of 10.89% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innospec	1.08%	10.89%	7.70%
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%

Does the media refer more to IOSP or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 2 more articles in the media than Innospec. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 6 mentions for Innospec. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 0.80 beat Innospec's score of 0.79 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Innospec	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, IOSP or FFBC?

Innospec has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, IOSP or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Innospec. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Innospec, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innospec	$1.85B	1.13	$35.60M	$0.78	107.91
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.49	$228.83M	$2.50	10.05

Do analysts prefer IOSP or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus target price of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 16.99%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Innospec.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innospec	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Do institutionals and insiders believe in IOSP or FFBC?

96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Innospec shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is IOSP or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Innospec pays out 215.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Innospec has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years and First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Innospec and First Financial Bancorp. tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.