Ashland (ASH) Competitors

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

Does the media favor ASH or ALB?

In the previous week, Ashland had 15 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Ashland and 7 mentions for Albemarle. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 0.36 beat Ashland's score of 0.31 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)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Albemarle	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, ASH or ALB?

Ashland has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ASH or ALB?

Albemarle received 178 more outperform votes than Ashland when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 68.30% of users gave Ashland an outperform vote while only 62.31% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ashland	Outperform Votes 599 68.30%	Underperform Votes 278 31.70%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 777 62.31%	Underperform Votes 470 37.69%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, ASH or ALB?

Ashland has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. 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	1.33	$169M	-$0.66	-87.41
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.61	-$1.18B	-$11.20	-6.59

Do institutionals & insiders believe in ASH or ALB?

93.9% of Ashland shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ashland shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Albemarle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate ASH or ALB?

Ashland currently has a consensus target price of $93.50, indicating a potential upside of 62.07%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $109.68, indicating a potential upside of 48.58%. Given Ashland's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities 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)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.18

Is ASH or ALB more profitable?

Ashland has a net margin of -1.12% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. Ashland's return on equity of 7.41% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	-1.12%	7.41%	3.80%
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%

Is ASH or ALB a better dividend stock?

Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ashland pays out -245.5% 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. Ashland has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

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