NEWMARKET CORPORATION vs Sensient Technologies Corp, two Chemicals stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
NewMarket earns 23.71% on equity from petroleum additives and a 15.25% net margin, converting a healthy 5.87% of its value to free cash. Sensient Technologies makes colors and flavors, earns 11.83% on equity at an 8.71% margin, and its free-cash yield is a thin 0.43% this year. Sensient trades far pricier at 35.46 times earnings against NewMarket's 18.04, though both carry book multiples near 4.2 to 4.25 times. Both pay dividends around 1.4%. The additive maker runs nearly twice Sensient's return on equity and generates far more cash, while the color house carries the steeper earnings price.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | NEU | SXT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $762.64 | $115.84 |
| Market cap | $7.1B | $4.9B |
| Sector | Chemicals | Chemicals |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | -4.1% | +16.1% |
| P/E | 17.4 | 34.2 |
| P/B | 4.10 | 4.06 |
| P/S | 2.64 | 2.99 |
| EV/EBITDA | 12.2 | 20.1 |
| Revenue growth | -3.5% | +5.8% |
| Gross margin | 33.0% | — |
| Operating margin | 21.4% | 15.3% |
| Net margin | 15.3% | 8.7% |
| Return on equity | 23.7% | 11.8% |
| Return on assets | 11.7% | 6.3% |
| Return on invested capital | 15.4% | 8.3% |
| FCF yield | 6.1% | 0.4% |
| Dividend yield | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Debt / equity | 0.54 | 0.63 |
| Current ratio | 2.55 | 5.01 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 4.19 | 8.44 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.