Ashland (ASH) Competitors

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

Is ASH or ALB a better dividend stock?

Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. 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 institutionals and insiders hold more shares of 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to ASH or ALB?

In the previous week, Ashland had 7 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ashland and 9 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat Ashland's score of 0.19 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ashland	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Albemarle	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer ASH or ALB?

Ashland currently has a consensus price target of $68.60, suggesting a potential upside of 28.35%. Albemarle has a consensus price target of $91.62, suggesting a potential upside of 34.85%. Given Albemarle's higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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)	2.40
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Which has more volatility and risk, ASH or ALB?

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

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashland	$2.11B	1.16	$169M	-$2.40	-22.27
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.49	-$1.18B	-$11.12	-6.11

Summary

Ashland beats Albemarle on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.