Comparing Ascent Industries (NASDAQ:ACNT) & Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB)

Ascent Industries (NASDAQ:ACNT) and Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ascent Industries and Trimble”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Industries	$74.94 million	1.68	$870,000.00	$0.13	106.92
Trimble	$3.59 billion	3.29	$424.00 million	$1.90	26.68

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Ascent Industries and Trimble, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Industries	1	0	0	0	1.00
Trimble	0	2	10	0	2.83

Trimble has a consensus target price of $87.33, suggesting a potential upside of 72.26%. Given Trimble’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Trimble is more favorable than Ascent Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Ascent Industries and Trimble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Industries	1.54%	-4.37%	-3.31%
Trimble	12.38%	11.61%	7.32%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.1% of Ascent Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of Trimble shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.5% of Ascent Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Trimble shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Ascent Industries has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trimble has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Trimble beats Ascent Industries on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascent Industries

Ascent Industries Co. an industrials company, produces and distributes stainless steel pipe and tube and specialty chemicals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Tubular Products and Specialty Chemicals. It manufactures welded pipes and tubes, primarily from stainless steel, duplex, and nickel alloys; and ornamental stainless steel tubes for automotive, commercial transportation, marine, food services, construction, furniture, healthcare, and other industries. The company also produces defoamers, surfactants, and lubricating agents for end users, including companies that supply agrochemical paper, metal working, coatings, water treatment, paint, mining, oil and gas, and janitorial and other applications. In addition, it provides contract manufacturing services, as well as operates as a multi-purpose plant to process various difficult to handle materials, including flammable solvents, viscous liquids, and granular solids. The company was formerly known as Synalloy Corporation and changed its name to Ascent Industries Co. in August 2022. Ascent Industries Co. was founded in 1945 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

About Trimble

Trimble Inc. provides technology solutions that enable professionals and field mobile workers to enhance or transform their work processes worldwide. The company's Buildings and Infrastructure segment offers field and office software for project design and visualization; systems to guide and control construction equipment; software for 3D design and data sharing; systems to monitor, track, and manage assets, equipment, and workers; software to share and communicate data; program management solutions for construction owners; 3D conceptual design and modeling software; building information modeling software; enterprise resource planning, project management, and project collaboration solutions; integrated site layout and measurement systems; cost estimating, scheduling, and project controls solutions; and applications for sub-contractors and trades. Its Geospatial segment provides surveying and geospatial products, and geographic information systems. The company's Resources and Utilities segment offers precision agriculture products and services, such as guidance and positioning systems, including autonomous steering systems, automated and variable-rate application and technology systems, and information management solutions; manual and automated navigation guidance for tractors and other farm equipment; solutions to automate application of pesticide and seeding; water solutions; and agricultural software. Its Transportation segment offers solutions for long haul trucking and freight shipper markets; mobility solutions comprising route management, safety and compliance, end-to-end vehicle management, video intelligence, and supply chain communications; and fleet and transportation management systems, analytics, routing, mapping, reporting, and predictive modeling solutions. The company was formerly known as Trimble Navigation Limited and changed its name to Trimble Inc. in October 2016. Trimble Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.