Sensient Technologies (SXT) Competitors

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

Is SXT or ALB a better dividend stock?

Sensient Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Sensient Technologies pays out 55.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albemarle pays out -14.5% 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. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, SXT or ALB?

Sensient Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. Albemarle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sensient Technologies, 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
Sensient Technologies	$1.56B	2.03	$124.67M	$2.94	25.36
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.16	-$1.18B	-$11.20	-4.72

Is SXT or ALB more profitable?

Sensient Technologies has a net margin of 8.01% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. Sensient Technologies' return on equity of 11.93% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sensient Technologies	8.01%	11.93%	6.30%
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SXT or ALB?

Albemarle received 478 more outperform votes than Sensient Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.50% of users gave Sensient Technologies an outperform vote while only 62.04% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sensient Technologies	Outperform Votes 300 62.50%	Underperform Votes 180 37.50%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 778 62.04%	Underperform Votes 476 37.96%

Which has more risk & volatility, SXT or ALB?

Sensient Technologies has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer SXT or ALB?

In the previous week, Albemarle had 11 more articles in the media than Sensient Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Albemarle and 7 mentions for Sensient Technologies. Sensient Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Albemarle's score of -0.08 indicating that Sensient Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sensient Technologies	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Albemarle	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SXT or ALB?

90.9% of Sensient Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Sensient Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend SXT or ALB?

Sensient Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $85.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.02%. Albemarle has a consensus price target of $96.05, indicating a potential upside of 81.64%. Given Albemarle's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than Sensient Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sensient 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)	13 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.15

Summary

Sensient Technologies beats Albemarle on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.