Head-To-Head Survey: Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) & Ashland (NYSE:ASH)

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) 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 dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Ashland has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Ashland pays out -11.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Minerals Technologies pays out -94.1% 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 and Minerals Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Ashland is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashland	$1.82 billion	1.44	-$845.00 million	($15.11)	-3.80
Minerals Technologies	$2.07 billion	1.07	-$18.40 million	($0.51)	-140.29

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

Profitability

This table compares Ashland and Minerals Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	-38.26%	7.58%	3.29%
Minerals Technologies	-0.89%	10.22%	5.03%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.0% of Ashland shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Ashland shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Minerals Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Ashland and Minerals Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashland	1	4	6	0	2.45
Minerals Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00

Ashland presently has a consensus target price of $66.11, suggesting a potential upside of 15.01%. Minerals Technologies has a consensus target price of $89.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.39%. Given Minerals Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than Ashland.

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Ashland on 11 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 Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.