Ashland (ASH) Competitors $52.48 -1.20 (-2.24%) As of 03:33 PM Eastern Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock ASH vs. ALB, CBT, NEU, CE, BCPC, SXT, FUL, IOSP, KWR, and MTXShould you be buying Ashland stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Ashland include Albemarle (ALB), Cabot (CBT), NewMarket (NEU), Celanese (CE), Balchem (BCPC), Sensient Technologies (SXT), H. B. Fuller (FUL), Innospec (IOSP), Quaker Houghton (KWR), and Minerals Technologies (MTX). These companies are all part of the "basic materials" sector. Ashland vs. Its Competitors Albemarle Cabot NewMarket Celanese Balchem Sensient Technologies H. B. Fuller Innospec Quaker Houghton Minerals Technologies Ashland (NYSE:ASH) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and media sentiment. Is ASH or ALB a better dividend stock? Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ashland pays out -69.2% 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. Ashland has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Do analysts rate ASH or ALB? Ashland presently has a consensus price target of $68.60, indicating a potential upside of 30.72%. Albemarle has a consensus price target of $91.62, indicating a potential upside of 40.80%. Given Albemarle's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than Ashland.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Ashland 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.40Albemarle 2 Sell rating(s) 14 Hold rating(s) 5 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.14 Is ASH or ALB more profitable? Ashland has a net margin of -5.74% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -22.39%. Ashland's return on equity of 7.14% beat Albemarle's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Ashland-5.74% 7.14% 3.59% Albemarle -22.39%-1.92%-0.92% Which has higher valuation and earnings, ASH or ALB? Ashland has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. Ashland is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Albemarle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAshland$2.11B1.14$169M-$2.40-21.87Albemarle$5.38B1.42-$1.18B-$11.12-5.85 Which has more risk & volatility, ASH or ALB? Ashland has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Does the media favor ASH or ALB? In the previous week, Ashland had 2 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Ashland and 12 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Ashland's score of 0.12 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Ashland 4 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 9 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Albemarle 12 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Very Positive Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ASH or ALB? 94.0% of Ashland shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ashland shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. SummaryAshland beats Albemarle on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Ashland News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for ASH and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ASH and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?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.Skip Chart ASH vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricAshlandCHEM IndustryMaterials SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$2.40B$15.83B$3.25B$20.43BDividend Yield3.09%2.01%5.15%3.72%P/E Ratio-21.8718.1494.6227.80Price / Sales1.143.1727,271,165,733,135,700.0037.78Price / Cash5.2013.5023.9218.22Price / Book0.893.185.964.58Net Income$169M$421.06M$147.60M$982.91M7 Day Performance4.33%3.24%2.20%1.73%1 Month Performance4.69%4.31%4.61%4.29%1 Year Performance-43.34%12.00%25.61%14.25% Ashland Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ASHAshland4.6558 of 5 stars$52.48-2.2%$68.60+30.7%-42.0%$2.40B$2.11B-21.873,200ALBAlbemarle4.4951 of 5 stars$62.81-3.3%$91.62+45.9%-31.5%$7.39B$5.38B-5.658,300Positive NewsCBTCabot4.7259 of 5 stars$75.04-1.8%$92.67+23.5%-11.3%$4.03B$3.99B9.714,200NEUNewMarket2.3846 of 5 stars$690.45+0.6%N/A+44.8%$6.51B$2.79B13.742,060High Trading VolumeCECelanese3.399 of 5 stars$55.48-2.3%$63.11+13.8%-53.9%$6.07B$10.28B-3.6512,163Positive NewsBCPCBalchem4.124 of 5 stars$159.20+0.5%$180.00+13.1%+2.7%$5.19B$953.68M38.181,361Positive NewsSXTSensient Technologies3.1771 of 5 stars$98.44+0.0%$94.00-4.5%+45.8%$4.18B$1.56B32.604,014FULH. B. Fuller3.8153 of 5 stars$60.19-2.5%$67.25+11.7%-17.7%$3.25B$3.57B32.547,500Positive NewsIOSPInnospec4.1628 of 5 stars$84.09-0.2%N/A-26.6%$2.10B$1.85B77.862,450KWRQuaker Houghton4.4718 of 5 stars$112.33-2.4%$159.25+41.8%-25.5%$1.99B$1.84B21.234,400Analyst RevisionMTXMinerals Technologies3.7789 of 5 stars$55.14-0.7%$80.00+45.1%-27.4%$1.75B$2.12B-71.613,891 Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Albemarle Alternatives Cabot Alternatives NewMarket Alternatives Celanese Alternatives Balchem Alternatives Sensient Technologies Alternatives H. B. Fuller Alternatives Innospec Alternatives Quaker Houghton Alternatives Minerals Technologies Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:ASH) was last updated on 7/7/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersA grave, grave error.I thought what happened 25 years ago was a once- in-a-lifetime event… but how wrong I was. 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