Comparing Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) and Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG)

Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) and Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Alta Equipment Group has a beta of 1.71, suggesting that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boise Cascade has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.6% of Alta Equipment Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Boise Cascade shares are held by institutional investors. 20.5% of Alta Equipment Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Boise Cascade shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Alta Equipment Group and Boise Cascade’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alta Equipment Group	-4.42%	-3,253.61%	-5.92%
Boise Cascade	1.64%	5.41%	3.34%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Alta Equipment Group and Boise Cascade, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alta Equipment Group	1	2	1	0	2.00
Boise Cascade	1	3	3	0	2.29

Alta Equipment Group currently has a consensus price target of $8.75, indicating a potential upside of 42.74%. Boise Cascade has a consensus price target of $93.60, indicating a potential upside of 21.85%. Given Alta Equipment Group’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Alta Equipment Group is more favorable than Boise Cascade.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alta Equipment Group and Boise Cascade”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alta Equipment Group	$1.84 billion	0.11	-$80.30 million	($2.57)	-2.39
Boise Cascade	$6.40 billion	0.42	$132.84 million	$2.95	26.04

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

Summary

Boise Cascade beats Alta Equipment Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alta Equipment Group

Alta Equipment Group Inc. owns and operates integrated equipment dealership platforms in the United States. It operates through three segments: Material Handling, Construction Equipment, and Master Distribution. The company operates a branch network that sells, rents, and provides parts and service support for various categories of specialized equipment, including lift trucks and other material handling equipment, heavy and compact earthmoving equipment, crushing and screening equipment, environmental processing equipment, cranes and aerial work platforms, paving and asphalt equipment, and other construction equipment and related products. It also offers repair and maintenance services for its equipment. In addition, the company designs and builds warehouses; provides automated equipment installation and system integration solutions; and distributes environmental processing equipment. It serves various manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive, municipal/government, education, pharmaceutical and medical, wholesale and retail distribution, construction, agriculture, road building, mining, recycling, and waste management sectors. Alta Equipment Group Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan.

About Boise Cascade

Boise Cascade Company engages in manufacture of wood products and distribution of building materials in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments, Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution. The Wood Products segment manufactures laminated veneer lumber and laminated beams used in headers and beams; I-joists for residential and commercial flooring and roofing systems, and other structural applications; structural, appearance, and industrial plywood panels; and ponderosa pine shop lumber and appearance grade boards. The Building Materials Distribution segment distributes a line of building materials, including oriented strand boards, plywood, and lumber; general line items, such as siding, composite decking, doors, metal products, insulation, and roofing; and engineered wood products. It markets and sells its products to dealers, home improvement centers, wholesalers, specialty distributors, and industrial converters for use in the construction of new residential housing, repair-and-remodeling of existing housing, construction of light industrial and commercial buildings, and other industrial applications. Boise Cascade Company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.