Hunting (HTG) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, AT or HTG?

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

Is AT or HTG a better dividend stock?

Ashtead Technology pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Hunting pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ashtead Technology pays out 3.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hunting pays out 13.3% 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 higher valuation and earnings, AT or HTG?

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
Ashtead Technology	£139.68M	3.10	£24.26M	£30.98	17.63
Hunting	£1.15B	0.54	£154.42M	£59.99	5.04

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AT or HTG?

Hunting received 441 more outperform votes than Ashtead Technology when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 100.00% of users gave Ashtead Technology an outperform vote while only 60.29% of users gave Hunting an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ashtead Technology	Outperform Votes 10 100.00%	Underperform Votes No Votes
Hunting	Outperform Votes 451 60.29%	Underperform Votes 297 39.71%

Does the media favor AT or HTG?

In the previous week, Ashtead Technology had 2 more articles in the media than Hunting. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Ashtead Technology and 2 mentions for Hunting. Ashtead Technology's average media sentiment score of 0.60 beat Hunting's score of -0.05 indicating that Ashtead Technology is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ashtead Technology	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hunting	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AT or HTG 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
Ashtead Technology	17.37%	23.56%	13.14%
Hunting	13.47%	13.25%	4.21%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of AT or HTG?

75.9% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.2% of Hunting shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.2% of Hunting shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate AT or HTG?

Ashtead Technology presently has a consensus price target of GBX 830, suggesting a potential upside of 52.01%. Hunting has a consensus price target of GBX 520, suggesting a potential upside of 71.90%. Given Hunting's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hunting is more favorable than Ashtead Technology.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashtead Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Hunting	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Ashtead Technology beats Hunting on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.