IFF vs. ECL, RPM, ALB, NEU, CE, BCPC, SXT, FUL, ASH, and KWR
Should you be buying International Flavors & Fragrances stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of International Flavors & Fragrances include Ecolab (ECL), RPM International (RPM), Albemarle (ALB), NewMarket (NEU), Celanese (CE), Balchem (BCPC), Sensient Technologies (SXT), H. B. Fuller (FUL), Ashland (ASH), and Quaker Houghton (KWR). These companies are all part of the "specialty chemicals" industry.
International Flavors & Fragrances vs. Its Competitors
International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation and profitability.
International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus target price of $93.43, suggesting a potential upside of 21.30%. Ecolab has a consensus target price of $288.33, suggesting a potential upside of 6.59%. Given International Flavors & Fragrances' higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe International Flavors & Fragrances is more favorable than Ecolab.
International Flavors & Fragrances has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecolab has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Ecolab has a net margin of 13.41% compared to International Flavors & Fragrances' net margin of -7.31%. Ecolab's return on equity of 22.53% beat International Flavors & Fragrances' return on equity.
96.0% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of Ecolab shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ecolab shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, Ecolab had 17 more articles in the media than International Flavors & Fragrances. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Ecolab and 11 mentions for International Flavors & Fragrances. Ecolab's average media sentiment score of 1.40 beat International Flavors & Fragrances' score of 0.82 indicating that Ecolab is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
International Flavors & Fragrances pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Ecolab pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. International Flavors & Fragrances pays out -48.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecolab pays out 35.3% 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. Ecolab has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. International Flavors & Fragrances is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Ecolab has higher revenue and earnings than International Flavors & Fragrances. International Flavors & Fragrances is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ecolab, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Ecolab beats International Flavors & Fragrances on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding IFF and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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.
International Flavors & Fragrances Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:IFF) was last updated on 7/22/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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