Ashtead Group (AHT) Competitors

Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) and Beximco Pharmaceuticals (LON:BXP) are both trading companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, media sentiment, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AHT or BXP?

71.4% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of Beximco Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 4.5% of Ashtead Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Beximco Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is AHT or BXP more profitable?

Ashtead Group has a net margin of 14.08% compared to Beximco Pharmaceuticals' net margin of 13.71%. Ashtead Group's return on equity of 21.43% beat Beximco Pharmaceuticals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	14.08%	21.43%	7.78%
Beximco Pharmaceuticals	13.71%	13.12%	6.97%

Is AHT or BXP a better dividend stock?

Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 1.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Beximco Pharmaceuticals pays an annual dividend of GBX 3.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.7%. Ashtead Group pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Beximco Pharmaceuticals pays out 27.8% 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. Beximco Pharmaceuticals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend AHT or BXP?

Ashtead Group presently has a consensus price target of GBX 6,045, suggesting a potential upside of 9.60%. Given Ashtead Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ashtead Group is more favorable than Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Beximco Pharmaceuticals	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Does the media favor AHT or BXP?

In the previous week, Ashtead Group had 4 more articles in the media than Beximco Pharmaceuticals. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Ashtead Group and 1 mentions for Beximco Pharmaceuticals. Ashtead Group's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Beximco Pharmaceuticals' score of 0.59 indicating that Ashtead Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ashtead Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Beximco Pharmaceuticals	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, AHT or BXP?

Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beximco Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, AHT or BXP?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	£10.79B	2.17	£1.93B	£3.46	1,594.94
Beximco Pharmaceuticals	£46.34B	0.00	£970.84B	£14.25	3.20

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Beximco Pharmaceuticals on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.