Live Earnings Conference Call: Ashland will host a live Q3 2025 earnings call on July 30, 2025 at 10:00AM ET. Follow this link to get details and listen to Ashland's Q3 2025 earnings call when it goes live. Get details. Ashland (ASH) Competitors $50.22 -0.73 (-1.43%) Closing price 07/29/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$50.20 -0.02 (-0.05%) As of 07/29/2025 05:14 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock ASH vs. ALB, CBT, FUL, NEU, CE, BCPC, SXT, KWR, IOSP, and MTXShould you be buying Ashland stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Ashland include Albemarle (ALB), Cabot (CBT), H. B. Fuller (FUL), NewMarket (NEU), Celanese (CE), Balchem (BCPC), Sensient Technologies (SXT), Quaker Houghton (KWR), Innospec (IOSP), and Minerals Technologies (MTX). These companies are all part of the "basic materials" sector. Ashland vs. Its Competitors Albemarle Cabot H. B. Fuller NewMarket Celanese Balchem Sensient Technologies Quaker Houghton Innospec Minerals Technologies 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAlbemarle$5.38B1.57-$1.18B-$11.12-6.44Ashland$2.11B1.09$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) 2.05Ashland 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.40 SummaryAshland beats Albemarle on 12 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$2.33B$15.58B$3.28B$21.03BDividend Yield3.26%2.00%5.16%3.60%P/E Ratio-20.9248.49130.1127.92Price / Sales1.093.1130,017,513,221,202,000.0068.05Price / Cash4.9413.1323.9023.29Price / Book0.863.035.944.54Net Income$169M$423.39M$148.55M$993.24M7 Day Performance-4.72%-2.18%-1.69%-1.51%1 Month Performance-0.16%2.84%5.17%3.16%1 Year Performance-47.83%5.46%28.47%9.14% Ashland Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ASHAshland4.7147 of 5 stars$50.22-1.4%$68.40+36.2%-47.6%$2.33B$2.11B-20.923,200Trending NewsEarnings ReportALBAlbemarle4.3851 of 5 stars$74.82-10.7%$91.00+21.6%-21.9%$8.80B$5.38B-6.738,300Analyst ForecastHigh Trading VolumeCBTCabot3.7175 of 5 stars$75.29-1.1%$92.67+23.1%-24.5%$4.04B$3.99B9.744,200Upcoming EarningsFULH. B. Fuller4.4282 of 5 stars$58.51-1.8%$67.25+14.9%-31.4%$3.16B$3.57B31.637,500Positive NewsNEUNewMarket3.3261 of 5 stars$694.06-1.7%N/A+23.5%$6.55B$2.79B13.812,060Positive NewsCECelanese4.3026 of 5 stars$57.90-1.4%$66.50+14.9%-59.1%$6.33B$10.28B-3.8012,163Positive NewsBCPCBalchem4.2639 of 5 stars$150.64+1.2%$180.00+19.5%-15.9%$4.91B$964.54M36.121,361Upcoming EarningsSXTSensient Technologies2.6644 of 5 stars$112.81-0.4%$110.00-2.5%+42.3%$4.79B$1.56B35.594,014Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementKWRQuaker Houghton4.36 of 5 stars$119.26-2.3%$159.25+33.5%-34.1%$2.11B$1.84B22.544,400Upcoming EarningsIOSPInnospec2.9337 of 5 stars$83.22-1.4%N/A-36.6%$2.08B$1.85B77.062,450Upcoming EarningsMTXMinerals Technologies3.8082 of 5 stars$61.20-6.5%$84.00+37.3%-23.8%$1.94B$2.06B1,020.173,891Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastHigh Trading Volume Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Albemarle Alternatives Cabot Alternatives H. B. Fuller Alternatives NewMarket Alternatives Celanese Alternatives Balchem Alternatives Sensient Technologies Alternatives Quaker Houghton Alternatives Innospec 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 7/30/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersAI Frenzy Could Send ‘EarnPhone’ SoaringThe hidden fuel behind AI? Your phone. Billions of data points — from your clicks, swipes, scrolls, and sea...Mode Mobile | SponsoredAI's Next Magnificent SevenThe original Magnificent Seven returned 16,894%—turning $7K into $1.18 million. Now, the man who called Nvi...The Oxford Club | SponsoredI was wrong about TrumpI made a mistake. A mistake I feel very foolish about. 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