Ashtead Group (ASHTY) and Its Peers Critical Comparison

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) is one of 24 public companies in the “Industrial Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Ashtead Group to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Dividends

Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ashtead Group pays out 20.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Industrial Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.2% and pay out 31.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ashtead Group and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	$10.79 billion	$1.51 billion	18.53
Ashtead Group Competitors	$9.76 billion	$637.30 million	17.85

Ashtead Group has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Ashtead Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashtead Group’s rivals have a beta of 1.17, suggesting that their average stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Ashtead Group and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	0	2	1	2	3.00
Ashtead Group Competitors	346	865	977	33	2.31

As a group, “Industrial Services” companies have a potential upside of 7.75%. Given Ashtead Group’s rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ashtead Group has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.8% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.2% of shares of all “Industrial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 19.1% of shares of all “Industrial Services” companies are held by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Ashtead Group and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	14.28%	21.32%	7.31%
Ashtead Group Competitors	-13.93%	10.91%	3.44%

Summary

Ashtead Group beats its rivals on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Ashtead Group

Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services. The company offers its products and services for facilities maintenance and municipalities, such as office complexes, apartment complexes, government, hospitals, data centers, parks and recreation departments, schools and universities, shopping centers, pavement/kerb repairs, and golf course maintenance; construction of airports, highways and bridges, office buildings, data centers, schools and universities, shopping centers, residential, remodeling, manufacturing plants, and green energy plants; emergency response for fire, hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, winter, storms, residential and health emergencies, alternative care facilities, points of distribution, and mobile testing facilities; and entertainment and special events, including national events, concerts, sporting events, film and telvision production, theme parks, festivals farmers' markets, local 5k runs, and cycle races. It operates 1,094 stores in the United States, 119 stores in Canada, and 185 stores in the United Kingdom under the Sunbelt Rentals brand. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.