ALB vs. IFF, RPM, CE, NEU, BCPC, SXT, FUL, ASH, IOSP, and KWR
Should you be buying Albemarle stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Albemarle include International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), RPM International (RPM), Celanese (CE), NewMarket (NEU), Balchem (BCPC), Sensient Technologies (SXT), H.B. Fuller (FUL), Ashland (ASH), Innospec (IOSP), and Quaker Chemical (KWR). These companies are all part of the "specialty chemicals" industry.
Albemarle vs.
International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.
International Flavors & Fragrances has a net margin of 2.12% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. International Flavors & Fragrances' return on equity of 7.72% beat Albemarle's return on equity.
International Flavors & Fragrances presently has a consensus target price of $92.54, suggesting a potential upside of 20.01%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $91.62, suggesting a potential upside of 62.14%. Given Albemarle's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than International Flavors & Fragrances.
96.0% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Albemarle has lower revenue, but higher earnings than International Flavors & Fragrances. International Flavors & Fragrances is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Albemarle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, International Flavors & Fragrances had 23 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for International Flavors & Fragrances and 7 mentions for Albemarle. International Flavors & Fragrances' average media sentiment score of 1.22 beat Albemarle's score of 0.26 indicating that International Flavors & Fragrances is being referred to more favorably in the media.
International Flavors & Fragrances pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. International Flavors & Fragrances pays out -48.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albemarle pays out -14.6% 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. Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Albemarle received 271 more outperform votes than International Flavors & Fragrances when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.78% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote while only 60.62% of users gave International Flavors & Fragrances an outperform vote.
International Flavors & Fragrances has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
International Flavors & Fragrances beats Albemarle on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
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Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NYSE:ALB) was last updated on 5/22/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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