Financial Comparison: Ashland (NYSE:ASH) & ICL Group (NYSE:ICL)

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) and Ashland (NYSE:ASH) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ICL Group	3.95%	8.40%	4.19%
Ashland	2.82%	8.03%	3.31%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for ICL Group and Ashland, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ICL Group	0	2	0	0	2.00
Ashland	0	5	7	0	2.58

ICL Group presently has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.78%. Ashland has a consensus price target of $73.90, suggesting a potential upside of 4.18%. Given ICL Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ICL Group is more favorable than Ashland.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.4% of ICL Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ashland shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of ICL Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Ashland shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ICL Group	$7.15 billion	1.02	$226.00 million	$0.24	23.63
Ashland	$1.84 billion	1.76	-$845.00 million	$1.14	62.23

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

Dividends

ICL Group pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Ashland pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. ICL Group pays out 70.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Ashland has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years. ICL Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

ICL Group has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashland has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

About ICL Group

ICL Group Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty minerals and chemicals company worldwide. It operates in four segments: Industrial Products, Potash, Phosphate Solutions, and Growing Solutions. The Industrial Products segment produces bromine out of a solution that is a by-product of the potash production process, as well as bromine-based compounds; produces various grades of potash, salt, magnesium chloride, and magnesia products; and produces and markets phosphorous-based flame retardants and other phosphorus-based products. The Potash segment extracts potash from the Dead Sea; mines and produces potash and salt; produces polysulphate; produces, markets, and sells magnesium and magnesium alloys, as well as related by-products, including chlorine and sylvinite; and sells salt. The Phosphate Solutions segment uses phosphate commodity products to produce specialty products; produces and markets phosphate-based fertilizers, as well as sulphuric acid, green phosphoric acid, and phosphate fertilizers; and manufactures thermal phosphoric acid for various industrial end markets, such as oral care, cleaning products, paints and coatings, water treatment, asphalt modification, construction, and metal treatment. It also develops and produces functional food ingredients and phosphate additives for use in the processed meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, beverage, and baked goods markets; and produces milk and whey proteins for the food ingredients industry. The Growing Solutions segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells fertilizers based primarily on nitrogen, potash, and phosphate, including water soluble specialty, liquid, soluble, and controlled-release fertilizers. It sells its products through marketing companies, agents, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Israel Chemicals Ltd. and changed its name to ICL Group Ltd in May 2020. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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.