ALB vs. IFF, CE, RPM, NEU, ASH, BCPC, FUL, KWR, IOSP, and SXT
Should you be buying Albemarle stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Albemarle include International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), Celanese (CE), RPM International (RPM), NewMarket (NEU), Ashland (ASH), Balchem (BCPC), H.B. Fuller (FUL), Quaker Chemical (KWR), Innospec (IOSP), and Sensient Technologies (SXT). These companies are all part of the "specialty chemicals" industry.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) and International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.
Albemarle received 285 more outperform votes than International Flavors & Fragrances when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.39% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote while only 59.92% of users gave International Flavors & Fragrances an outperform vote.
Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. International Flavors & Fragrances pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Albemarle pays out 58.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. International Flavors & Fragrances pays out -16.4% 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. International Flavors & Fragrances is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
In the previous week, International Flavors & Fragrances had 1 more articles in the media than Albemarle. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for International Flavors & Fragrances and 8 mentions for Albemarle. International Flavors & Fragrances' average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Albemarle's score of 0.40 indicating that International Flavors & Fragrances is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Albemarle has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, International Flavors & Fragrances has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Albemarle presently has a consensus price target of $165.16, indicating a potential upside of 34.72%. International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus price target of $94.41, indicating a potential downside of 1.84%. Given Albemarle's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than International Flavors & Fragrances.
Albemarle has a net margin of 4.02% compared to International Flavors & Fragrances' net margin of -22.01%. Albemarle's return on equity of 14.53% beat International Flavors & Fragrances' return on equity.
92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Albemarle shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of International Flavors & Fragrances shares are owned 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.
Albemarle has higher earnings, but lower revenue than International Flavors & Fragrances. 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
Albemarle beats International Flavors & Fragrances on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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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.
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.
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