Reviewing Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Titan Machinery (NASDAQ:TITN)

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Titan Machinery (NASDAQ:TITN) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.8% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Titan Machinery shares are held by institutional investors. 10.8% of Titan Machinery shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	12.83%	20.18%	6.98%
Titan Machinery	-2.46%	-9.17%	-3.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ashtead Group and Titan Machinery, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	1	1	2	0	2.25
Titan Machinery	1	0	1	0	2.00

Titan Machinery has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.08%. Given Titan Machinery’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Titan Machinery is more favorable than Ashtead Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ashtead Group and Titan Machinery”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	$10.79 billion	2.47	$1.51 billion	$13.22	19.26
Titan Machinery	$2.43 billion	0.23	-$54.17 million	($2.49)	-9.70

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

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Titan Machinery on 10 of the 13 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 Titan Machinery

Titan Machinery Inc. owns and operates a network of full service agricultural and construction equipment stores in the United States, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Agriculture, Construction, Europe, and Australia. The company sells new and used equipment, including agricultural and construction equipment manufactured under the CNH Industrial family of brands, as well as equipment from various other manufacturers. Its agricultural equipment includes machinery and attachments for use in the production of food, fiber, feed grain, feed stock, and renewable energy; and home and garden applications, as well as maintenance of commercial, residential, and government properties. The company’s construction equipment comprises heavy construction machinery, light industrial machinery for commercial and residential construction, and road and highway construction machinery. It also sells maintenance and replacement parts. In addition, the company offers repair and maintenance services that include warranty repairs, off-site and on-site repair services, scheduling off-season maintenance services, and notifying customers of periodic service requirements; and training programs to customers. Further, it rents equipment; and provides ancillary equipment support services, such as equipment transportation, global positioning system signal subscriptions and other precision farming products, farm data management products, and CNH Industrial finance and insurance products. The company operates in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the United States; Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, and Ukraine, Europe; and New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria, Australia. Titan Machinery Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota.