Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust (GMP) Competitors

Ashtead Technology (LON:AT) and Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust (LON:GMP) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Do analysts prefer AT or GMP?

Ashtead Technology presently has a consensus price target of GBX 646.25, indicating a potential upside of 82.56%. Given Ashtead Technology's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Ashtead Technology is more favorable than Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has better earnings and valuation, AT or GMP?

Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Ashtead Technology. Ashtead Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust, 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 Technology	£139.68M	2.01	£24.26M	£30.98	11.43
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	£540.33M	0.17	£300.49M	£0.29	31.12

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AT or GMP?

75.9% of Ashtead Technology shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.3% of Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Ashtead Technology shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 86.7% of Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is AT or GMP a better dividend stock?

Ashtead Technology pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Ashtead Technology pays out 3.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust pays out 165.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Is AT or GMP more profitable?

Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust has a net margin of 55.61% compared to Ashtead Technology's net margin of 17.37%. Ashtead Technology's return on equity of 23.56% beat Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Technology	17.37%	23.56%	13.14%
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	55.61%	2.87%	N/A

Does the media prefer AT or GMP?

In the previous week, Ashtead Technology had 5 more articles in the media than Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Ashtead Technology and 0 mentions for Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust. Ashtead Technology's average media sentiment score of 0.06 beat Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Ashtead Technology is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Ashtead Technology	Neutral
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	Neutral

Summary

Ashtead Technology beats Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.