Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Salzgitter (OTCMKTS:SZGPY) Head-To-Head Analysis

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Salzgitter (OTCMKTS:SZGPY) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Ashtead Group and Salzgitter’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	17.63%	29.89%	9.51%
Salzgitter	4.15%	9.76%	4.34%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ashtead Group and Salzgitter, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	0	1	1	0	2.50
Salzgitter	1	3	0	0	1.75

Risk and Volatility

Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.79, indicating that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Salzgitter has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.4% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ashtead Group and Salzgitter’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	$9.67 billion	2.78	$1.62 billion	$15.16	16.20
Salzgitter	$13.23 billion	0.11	$1.14 billion	$0.95	2.87

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

Dividends

Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Salzgitter pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ashtead Group pays out 43.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Salzgitter pays out 7.4% 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.

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Salzgitter on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Salzgitter

Salzgitter AG, together with its subsidiaries, engages in steel and technology businesses worldwide. It operates through four segments: Steel Production, Steel Processing, Trading, and Technology. The Steel Production segment manufactures steel and special steels, such as hot-rolled wide strip, steel sheet, sections, tailored blanks, as well as scrap trading. The Steel Processing segment produces various high-grade heavy plates; and manufactures line pipes, HFI-welded tubes, and precision and stainless-steel tubes. The Trading segment operates a European sales network, as well as trading companies and agencies worldwide. The Technology segment engages in the provision of machinery and plants for the filling and packaging of beverages, as well as special machinery engineering for shoe manufacturing and elastomer production. The company also provides IT, facility management, logistics, automotive engineering, and research and development services, as well as supplies raw materials. Salzgitter AG was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Salzgitter, Germany.