Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust (GMP) Competitors

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

Is GMP or AT 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
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	55.61%	2.87%	N/A
Ashtead Technology	17.37%	23.56%	13.14%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, GMP or AT?

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
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	£540.33M	0.17	£300.49M	£0.29	31.12
Ashtead Technology	£139.68M	2.56	£24.26M	£30.98	14.54

Does the media prefer GMP or AT?

In the previous week, Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust's average media sentiment score of 0.00 equaled Ashtead Technology'saverage media sentiment score.

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

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in GMP or AT?

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

Is GMP or AT a better dividend stock?

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 an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. 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. Ashtead Technology pays out 3.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do analysts rate GMP or AT?

Ashtead Technology has a consensus target price of GBX 830, indicating a potential upside of 84.24%. Given Ashtead Technology's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, 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
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Ashtead Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Ashtead Technology beats Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.