Innospec (IOSP) Competitors

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Innospec (NASDAQ:IOSP) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Which has more risk and volatility, FFBC or IOSP?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Innospec has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate FFBC or IOSP?

First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus price target of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 11.26%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Innospec.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Innospec	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Does the media refer more to FFBC or IOSP?

In the previous week, Innospec had 2 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Innospec and 4 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. Innospec's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.30 indicating that Innospec is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Innospec	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, FFBC or IOSP?

First Financial Bancorp. has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Innospec. First Financial Bancorp. 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
First Financial Bancorp.	$840.71M	2.94	$228.83M	$2.41	10.72
Innospec	$1.85B	1.20	$35.60M	$1.08	82.13

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of FFBC or IOSP?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.6% of Innospec shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Innospec shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is FFBC or IOSP more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 18.65% compared to Innospec's net margin of 1.51%. Innospec's return on equity of 11.38% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%
Innospec	1.51%	11.38%	8.00%

Is FFBC or IOSP a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Innospec pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Innospec has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Innospec beats First Financial Bancorp. on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.