FUCHS (OTCMKTS:FUPBY) versus Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Financial Contrast

FUCHS (OTCMKTS:FUPBY) and Ashland (NYSE:ASH) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares FUCHS and Ashland”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FUCHS	$3.81 billion	1.67	$326.79 million	$0.61	18.84
Ashland	$2.11 billion	1.12	$169.00 million	($18.73)	-2.76

FUCHS has higher revenue and earnings than Ashland. Ashland is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FUCHS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

FUCHS has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashland has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares FUCHS and Ashland’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FUCHS	8.16%	15.56%	11.09%
Ashland	-46.01%	6.82%	3.26%

Dividends

FUCHS pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. FUCHS pays out 27.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashland pays out -8.9% 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 increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.0% of Ashland shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ashland shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for FUCHS and Ashland, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FUCHS	1	0	0	0	1.00
Ashland	0	4	3	0	2.43

Ashland has a consensus price target of $61.43, indicating a potential upside of 18.62%. Given Ashland’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ashland is more favorable than FUCHS.

Summary

FUCHS beats Ashland on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FUCHS

Fuchs SE develops, produces, and sells lubricants and related specialties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and North and South America. The company offers automotive lubricants, such as biodegradable lubricants, central and mobile hydraulic oils, dry coatings, engine and gear oils, motorcycle/two wheelers, and service fluids, as well as various oils for agriculture sector. It also provides industrial lubricants, including chain lubricants, dry coatings, gear and hydraulic oils, machine oils, open gear lubricants, rapidly biodegradable lubricants, compressor and refrigeration oils, release agents, slideways oils, fluids and industrial oils, textile machine oils, and turbine oils. In addition, the company offers lubricating greases comprising assembly pastes, biodegradable greases, food grade greases, multi-purpose/long-life greases, pastes for extreme temperatures, perfluorinated pastes, and wheel bearing greases, as well as gear boxes, and greases for central lubricating system, extreme temperature, machine tools, plain and roller bearings, rail vehicles, spray cans or rattle cans, and solid lubricants. Further, it provides metal processing lubricants consisting of cleaners, corrosion preventives, cutting and grinding, forming lubricants, and quenching oils; and special application lubricants for application equipment, chain lubrication, dry coatings, food and beverage, gears, sugar processing, railway traffic, plain and roller bearings, glass manufacturing process, hot forming, maintenance, open gears, pastes, release agents, other specialties, special greases, and wind power plants. Additionally, the company offers open gear and surface coating services. The company was formerly known as Fuchs Petrolub SE and changed its name to Fuchs SE in July 2023. Fuchs SE was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions. Its Personal Care segment provides a range of nature-based, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. Its Intermediates segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ashland Inc. in August 2022. Ashland Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.