Innospec (IOSP) Competitors

Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) and Celanese (NYSE:CE) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, IOSP or CE?

Celanese has higher revenue and earnings than Innospec. Celanese 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	$1.87B	1.46	$139.10M	$5.73	19.15
Celanese	$10.48B	0.71	$1.96B	$9.94	6.87

Does the media prefer IOSP or CE?

In the previous week, Celanese had 22 more articles in the media than Innospec. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Celanese and 6 mentions for Innospec. Innospec's average media sentiment score of 0.72 beat Celanese's score of 0.34 indicating that Innospec is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Innospec	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Celanese	5 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend IOSP or CE?

Celanese has a consensus price target of $110.50, indicating a potential upside of 61.90%. Given Celanese's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Celanese 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)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Celanese	5 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.88

Is IOSP or CE more profitable?

Celanese has a net margin of 10.40% compared to Innospec's net margin of 7.68%. Innospec's return on equity of 13.33% beat Celanese's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innospec	7.68%	13.33%	9.18%
Celanese	10.40%	13.17%	3.84%

Is IOSP or CE a better dividend stock?

Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Celanese pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Innospec pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Celanese pays out 28.2% 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. Celanese has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Celanese is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer IOSP or CE?

Celanese received 354 more outperform votes than Innospec when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.07% of users gave Innospec an outperform vote while only 62.79% of users gave Celanese an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Innospec	Outperform Votes 331 66.07%	Underperform Votes 170 33.93%
Celanese	Outperform Votes 685 62.79%	Underperform Votes 406 37.21%

Which has more volatility & risk, IOSP or CE?

Innospec has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Celanese has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in IOSP or CE?

96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Celanese shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Innospec shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Celanese shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Celanese beats Innospec on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.