Ashland (ASH) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate ASH or ALB?

Ashland presently has a consensus target price of $95.57, suggesting a potential upside of 49.87%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $113.95, suggesting a potential upside of 32.82%. Given Ashland's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Ashland is more favorable than Albemarle.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashland	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
Albemarle	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.26

Does the media prefer ASH or ALB?

In the previous week, Ashland had 51 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 53 mentions for Ashland and 2 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Ashland's score of 0.10 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ashland	11 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	16 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	5 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Albemarle	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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

93.9% of Ashland shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ashland shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Albemarle shares are owned 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ASH or ALB?

Albemarle received 176 more outperform votes than Ashland when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.38% of users gave Ashland an outperform vote while only 62.75% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ashland	Outperform Votes 599 68.38%	Underperform Votes 277 31.62%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 775 62.75%	Underperform Votes 460 37.25%

Which has better valuation and earnings, ASH or ALB?

Albemarle has higher revenue and earnings than Ashland. Ashland 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
Ashland	$2.05B	1.47	$169M	-$0.66	-96.62
Albemarle	$6.50B	1.55	$1.57B	-$16.75	-5.12

Is ASH or ALB a better dividend stock?

Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Ashland pays out -245.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albemarle pays out -9.7% 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. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk and volatility, ASH or ALB?

Ashland has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.58, meaning that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ASH or ALB more profitable?

Ashland has a net margin of 7.95% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -28.80%. Ashland's return on equity of 7.43% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	7.95%	7.43%	3.85%
Albemarle	-28.80%	1.67%	0.84%

Summary

Ashland beats Albemarle on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.