Innospec (IOSP) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer IOSP or FFBC?

In the previous week, Innospec had 2 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Innospec and 6 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. Innospec's average media sentiment score of 1.69 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.88 indicating that Innospec is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Innospec	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
First Financial Bancorp.	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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%

Do analysts rate IOSP or FFBC?

First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 16.25%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher possible 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

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, 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	1.09	$35.60M	$0.78	103.60
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.50	$228.83M	$2.50	10.12

Is IOSP or FFBC a better dividend stock?

Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. 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 40.0% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, IOSP or FFBC?

Innospec has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of IOSP or FFBC?

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

Summary

Innospec beats First Financial Bancorp. on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.