Hunting (HTG) Competitors

Hunting (LON:HTG) and Ashtead Technology (LON:AT) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Is HTG or AT more profitable?

Ashtead Technology has a net margin of 17.37% compared to Hunting's net margin of 13.47%. Ashtead Technology's return on equity of 23.56% beat Hunting's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hunting	13.47%	13.25%	4.21%
Ashtead Technology	17.37%	23.56%	13.14%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HTG or AT?

61.4% of Hunting shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.9% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Hunting shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate HTG or AT?

Hunting currently has a consensus target price of GBX 526.25, indicating a potential upside of 59.23%. Ashtead Technology has a consensus target price of GBX 646.25, indicating a potential upside of 79.51%. Given Ashtead Technology's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ashtead Technology is more favorable than Hunting.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hunting	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ashtead Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media refer more to HTG or AT?

In the previous week, Ashtead Technology had 5 more articles in the media than Hunting. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Ashtead Technology and 3 mentions for Hunting. Hunting's average media sentiment score of 0.25 beat Ashtead Technology's score of 0.25 indicating that Hunting is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hunting	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ashtead Technology	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HTG or AT?

Hunting has higher revenue and earnings than Ashtead Technology. Hunting is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ashtead Technology, 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
Hunting	£1.08B	0.48	£154.42M	-£0.21	-1,558.96
Ashtead Technology	£139.68M	2.04	£24.26M	£30.98	11.62

Is HTG or AT a better dividend stock?

Hunting pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Ashtead Technology pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Hunting pays out -55.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashtead Technology pays out 3.2% 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, HTG or AT?

Hunting has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashtead Technology has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ashtead Technology beats Hunting on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.