Quaker Houghton (KWR) Competitors

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) and Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Do analysts recommend IOSP or KWR?

Quaker Houghton has a consensus target price of $159.25, suggesting a potential upside of 26.94%. Given Quaker Houghton's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Quaker Houghton is more favorable than Innospec.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innospec	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
Quaker Houghton	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has more volatility & risk, IOSP or KWR?

Innospec has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quaker Houghton has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is IOSP or KWR more profitable?

Quaker Houghton has a net margin of 5.20% compared to Innospec's net margin of 1.51%. Innospec's return on equity of 11.38% beat Quaker Houghton's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innospec	1.51%	11.38%	8.00%
Quaker Houghton	5.20%	8.86%	4.63%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, IOSP or KWR?

Quaker Houghton has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Innospec. Quaker Houghton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Innospec, 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
Innospec	$1.85B	1.16	$35.60M	$1.08	79.46
Quaker Houghton	$1.84B	1.21	$116.64M	$5.29	23.71

Does the media favor IOSP or KWR?

In the previous week, Innospec had 2 more articles in the media than Quaker Houghton. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Innospec and 7 mentions for Quaker Houghton. Quaker Houghton's average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat Innospec's score of 0.64 indicating that Quaker Houghton is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Innospec	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Quaker Houghton	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is IOSP or KWR a better dividend stock?

Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Quaker Houghton pays an annual dividend of $1.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Innospec pays out 155.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Quaker Houghton pays out 36.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Innospec has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Quaker Houghton has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of IOSP or KWR?

96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.5% of Quaker Houghton shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Innospec shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Quaker Houghton shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Innospec and Quaker Houghton tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.