Critical Review: Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) versus Haier Electronics Group (OTCMKTS:HRELY)

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Haier Electronics Group (OTCMKTS:HRELY) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.8% of Ashtead Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.69, suggesting that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Haier Electronics Group has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Ashtead Group and Haier Electronics Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	0	1	1	2	3.25
Haier Electronics Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	14.78%	22.65%	7.44%
Haier Electronics Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Haier Electronics Group pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ashtead Group pays out 20.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Haier Electronics Group pays out 27.5% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ashtead Group and Haier Electronics Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	$10.86 billion	2.22	$1.60 billion	$13.92	16.03
Haier Electronics Group	$10.98 billion	1.15	$1.06 billion	$2.11	21.27

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

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Haier Electronics Group on 12 of the 15 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 Haier Electronics Group

As of December 21, 2020, operates as a subsidiary of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.