Head to Head Survey: Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) & Daiwa Securities Group (OTCMKTS:DSEEY)

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) and Daiwa Securities Group (OTCMKTS:DSEEY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Ashtead Group and Daiwa Securities Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashtead Group	14.78%	22.65%	7.44%
Daiwa Securities Group	11.77%	8.92%	0.47%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ashtead Group and Daiwa Securities Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashtead Group	$10.86 billion	2.34	$1.60 billion	$13.92	16.93
Daiwa Securities Group	$8.85 billion	1.05	$838.75 million	$0.71	9.35

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.8% of Ashtead Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Daiwa Securities Group has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ashtead Group and Daiwa Securities Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Group	0	2	1	2	3.00
Daiwa Securities Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Dividends

Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Daiwa Securities Group pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Ashtead Group pays out 20.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Daiwa Securities Group pays out 43.7% 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.

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Daiwa Securities Group on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ashtead Group

Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services. The company offers its products and services for facilities maintenance and municipalities, such as office complexes, apartment complexes, government, hospitals, data centers, parks and recreation departments, schools and universities, shopping centers, pavement/kerb repairs, and golf course maintenance; construction of airports, highways and bridges, office buildings, data centers, schools and universities, shopping centers, residential, remodeling, manufacturing plants, and green energy plants; emergency response for fire, hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, winter, storms, residential and health emergencies, alternative care facilities, points of distribution, and mobile testing facilities; and entertainment and special events, including national events, concerts, sporting events, film and telvision production, theme parks, festivals farmers' markets, local 5k runs, and cycle races. It operates 1,094 stores in the United States, 119 stores in Canada, and 185 stores in the United Kingdom under the Sunbelt Rentals brand. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Daiwa Securities Group

Daiwa Securities Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily operates as a securities broker-dealer in Japan and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Wholesale, Asset Management, and Investment. The Retail segment offers products and services related to asset management, including equities, bonds, investment trusts, wrap account services, insurance, banking services, inheritance-related services, etc. for individual investors and unlisted companies. The Wholesale segment offers sales and trading services of equities and bonds, as well as of foreign exchange and derivative products primarily for institutional investors and corporations; and investment banking services, such as underwriting of securities, M&A advisory, etc. The Asset Management segment structures and manages investment trusts primarily for individual investors and financial institutions; provides investment advisory services; and manages assets. The Investment segment invests in monetary claims, loans, private equities, and real estate properties, as well as energy, infrastructure, and resource sectors. The company also offers research and consulting, and information services, as well as engages in the office work activities. In addition, it is involved in the securities-related, investment advisory and agency, and investment management businesses, as well as lending and borrowing of real estate properties. The company was formerly known as Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. and changed its name to Daiwa Securities Group Inc. in 1999. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.