Minerals Technologies (MTX) Competitors

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Does the media prefer MTX or ALB?

In the previous week, Minerals Technologies had 7 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Minerals Technologies and 6 mentions for Albemarle. Minerals Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Albemarle's score of 0.47 indicating that Minerals Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Minerals Technologies	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Albemarle	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MTX or ALB a better dividend stock?

Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Minerals Technologies pays out -57.1% 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. Minerals Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Albemarle has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, MTX or ALB?

Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.71, suggesting that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate MTX or ALB?

Minerals Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.60%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $91.62, suggesting a potential upside of 60.66%. Given Albemarle's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Albemarle is more favorable than Minerals Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Minerals Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, MTX or ALB?

Minerals Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. Minerals Technologies 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
Minerals Technologies	$2.08B	0.89	$167.10M	-$0.77	-75.51
Albemarle	$5.09B	1.32	-$1.18B	-$11.12	-5.13

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MTX or ALB?

Albemarle received 550 more outperform votes than Minerals Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.78% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote while only 53.38% of users gave Minerals Technologies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Minerals Technologies	Outperform Votes 229 53.38%	Underperform Votes 200 46.62%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 779 61.78%	Underperform Votes 482 38.22%

Is MTX or ALB more profitable?

Minerals Technologies has a net margin of 7.89% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. Minerals Technologies' return on equity of 11.49% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Minerals Technologies	7.89%	11.49%	5.90%
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of MTX or ALB?

97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Albemarle on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.