ALB vs. IFF, RPM, NEU, CE, BCPC, SXT, FUL, ASH, IOSP, and KWR
Should you be buying Albemarle stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Albemarle include International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), RPM International (RPM), NewMarket (NEU), Celanese (CE), Balchem (BCPC), Sensient Technologies (SXT), H. B. Fuller (FUL), Ashland (ASH), Innospec (IOSP), and Quaker Houghton (KWR). These companies are all part of the "specialty chemicals" industry.
Albemarle vs. Its Competitors
International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.
96.0% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
International Flavors & Fragrances has a net margin of -7.31% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -22.39%. International Flavors & Fragrances' return on equity of 7.99% beat Albemarle's return on equity.
International Flavors & Fragrances pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. International Flavors & Fragrances pays out -48.9% 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. Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
International Flavors & Fragrances presently has a consensus price target of $93.43, indicating a potential upside of 25.51%. Albemarle has a consensus price target of $91.62, indicating a potential upside of 41.08%. Given Albemarle's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than International Flavors & Fragrances.
In the previous week, International Flavors & Fragrances had 15 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for International Flavors & Fragrances and 3 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat International Flavors & Fragrances' score of 1.02 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
International Flavors & Fragrances has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.
International Flavors & Fragrances has higher revenue and earnings than Albemarle. International Flavors & Fragrances is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Albemarle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
International Flavors & Fragrances beats Albemarle on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ALB and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Albemarle Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:ALB) was last updated on 6/29/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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