Ashland (ASH) Competitors

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) and Ashland (NYSE:ASH) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, risk, earnings and valuation.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, ALB or ASH?

Ashland has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.57	-$1.18B	-$11.12	-6.44
Ashland	$2.11B	1.09	$169M	-$2.40	-20.92

Is ALB or ASH 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
Albemarle	-22.39%	-1.92%	-0.92%
Ashland	-5.74%	7.14%	3.59%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ALB or ASH?

92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.0% of Ashland shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Albemarle shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Ashland shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, ALB or ASH?

Albemarle has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashland has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to ALB or ASH?

In the previous week, Ashland had 8 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Ashland and 15 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Ashland's score of 0.19 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Albemarle	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ashland	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ALB or ASH a better dividend stock?

Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Albemarle pays out -14.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashland pays out -69.2% 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 increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Ashland has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate ALB or ASH?

Albemarle presently has a consensus price target of $91.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.05%. Ashland has a consensus price target of $68.40, indicating a potential upside of 36.20%. Given Ashland's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ashland is more favorable than Albemarle.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Albemarle	4 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.05
Ashland	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Summary

Ashland beats Albemarle on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.