Innospec (IOSP) Competitors

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) and Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, profitability, community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Do analysts prefer ALB or IOSP?

Albemarle currently has a consensus target price of $94.57, suggesting a potential upside of 59.42%. Given Albemarle's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Albemarle is more favorable than Innospec.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14
Innospec	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, ALB or IOSP?

Innospec has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Albemarle. Albemarle 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
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.30	-$1.18B	-$11.20	-5.30
Innospec	$1.85B	1.23	$139.10M	$1.42	63.39

Does the media refer more to ALB or IOSP?

In the previous week, Innospec had 1 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Innospec and 11 mentions for Albemarle. Innospec's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Albemarle's score of 0.45 indicating that Innospec is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Albemarle	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Innospec	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ALB or IOSP more profitable?

Innospec has a net margin of 1.93% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. Innospec's return on equity of 12.27% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%
Innospec	1.93%	12.27%	8.54%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ALB or IOSP?

Albemarle received 439 more outperform votes than Innospec when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.08% of users gave Innospec an outperform vote while only 61.99% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 778 61.99%	Underperform Votes 477 38.01%
Innospec	Outperform Votes 339 66.08%	Underperform Votes 174 33.92%

Which has more volatility and risk, ALB or IOSP?

Albemarle has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Innospec has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ALB or IOSP?

92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.6% of Innospec shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Albemarle shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Innospec shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ALB or IOSP a better dividend stock?

Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Albemarle pays out -14.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Innospec pays out 111.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Albemarle has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Innospec beats Albemarle on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.