Contrasting H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) & Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTF)

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) and Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTF) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares H&E Equipment Services and Ashtead Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H&E Equipment Services	11.62%	38.97%	6.94%
Ashtead Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for H&E Equipment Services and Ashtead Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H&E Equipment Services	0	0	3	0	3.00
Ashtead Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

H&E Equipment Services currently has a consensus target price of $62.33, suggesting a potential upside of 44.42%. Given H&E Equipment Services’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe H&E Equipment Services is more favorable than Ashtead Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares H&E Equipment Services and Ashtead Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H&E Equipment Services	$1.24 billion	1.26	$132.17 million	$4.61	9.36
Ashtead Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.53	114.88

H&E Equipment Services has higher revenue and earnings than Ashtead Group. H&E Equipment Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ashtead Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.2% of H&E Equipment Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.5% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. 12.6% of H&E Equipment Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

H&E Equipment Services pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. H&E Equipment Services pays out 23.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashtead Group pays out 21.8% 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

H&E Equipment Services beats Ashtead Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. operates as an integrated equipment services company. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Used Equipment Sales, New Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The Used Equipment Sales segment sells used equipment from its rental fleet, as well as inventoried equipment that are acquired through trade-ins from equipment customers. The New Equipment Sales segment sells new construction equipment through a professional sales force. The Parts Sales segment sells parts for the equipment customers, as well as offers for its rental fleet. The Repair and Maintenance Services segment provides maintenance and repair services to its rental fleet and equipment customers, as well as offers ongoing preventative maintenance services to industrial customers. It also provides ancillary equipment support activities, including transportation, hauling, parts shipping, and loss damage waivers. The company's rental fleet consists of aerial work platforms, cranes, earthmoving and material handling equipment, and other general and specialty lines. It serves industrial and commercial companies, construction contractors, manufacturers, public utilities, municipalities, maintenance contractors, and various other industrial account customers. H&E Equipment Services, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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.