Alta Equipment Group (ALTG) Competitors

Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) and Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ALTG or ITRN?

Ituran Location and Control has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Alta Equipment Group. Alta Equipment Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ituran Location and Control, 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
Alta Equipment Group	$1.88B	0.15	-$62.10M	-$2.06	-4.15
Ituran Location and Control	$336.26M	2.15	$53.65M	$2.79	13.05

Does the media favor ALTG or ITRN?

In the previous week, Ituran Location and Control had 10 more articles in the media than Alta Equipment Group. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ituran Location and Control and 6 mentions for Alta Equipment Group. Alta Equipment Group's average media sentiment score of 0.69 beat Ituran Location and Control's score of 0.15 indicating that Alta Equipment Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alta Equipment Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ituran Location and Control	2 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ALTG or ITRN?

73.6% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.9% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Ituran Location and Control shares are owned 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, ALTG or ITRN?

Alta Equipment Group has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ituran Location and Control has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ALTG or ITRN a better dividend stock?

Alta Equipment Group pays an annual dividend of $0.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ituran Location and Control pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Alta Equipment Group pays out -11.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ituran Location and Control pays out 71.7% 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. Ituran Location and Control has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Ituran Location and Control is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is ALTG or ITRN more profitable?

Ituran Location and Control has a net margin of 16.35% compared to Alta Equipment Group's net margin of -3.53%. Ituran Location and Control's return on equity of 28.24% beat Alta Equipment Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alta Equipment Group	-3.53%	-95.61%	-4.38%
Ituran Location and Control	16.35%	28.24%	16.47%

Do analysts recommend ALTG or ITRN?

Alta Equipment Group presently has a consensus target price of $11.25, suggesting a potential upside of 31.66%. Ituran Location and Control has a consensus target price of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.32%. Given Ituran Location and Control's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ituran Location and Control is more favorable than Alta Equipment Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alta Equipment Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ituran Location and Control	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Ituran Location and Control beats Alta Equipment Group on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.