Ashland (NYSE:ASH) versus Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) Head-To-Head Analysis

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ashland and Methanex, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashland	0	5	7	0	2.58
Methanex	0	5	6	0	2.55

Ashland presently has a consensus target price of $73.90, suggesting a potential upside of 3.50%. Methanex has a consensus target price of $68.56, suggesting a potential upside of 11.26%. Given Methanex’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Methanex is more favorable than Ashland.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	2.82%	8.03%	3.31%
Methanex	2.07%	11.35%	4.34%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ashland and Methanex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashland	$1.84 billion	1.78	-$845.00 million	$1.14	62.63
Methanex	$4.27 billion	1.12	$79.88 million	$1.03	59.83

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

Dividends

Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Methanex pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ashland pays out 147.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Methanex pays out 71.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashland has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Methanex has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Ashland has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Methanex has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ashland shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.5% of Methanex shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Ashland shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Methanex shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ashland beats Methanex on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation produces and supplies methanol in China, Europe, the United States, South America, South Korea, Canada, and Asia. The company also purchases methanol produced by others under methanol offtake contracts and on the spot market. In addition, it owns and leases storage and terminal facilities. The company owns and manages a fleet of approximately 30 ocean-going vessels. It serves chemical and petrochemical producers. Methanex Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.