Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY – Get Free Report) and LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Ashtead Group and LegalZoom.com”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ashtead Group | $10.79 billion | 2.53 | $1.51 billion | $13.65 | 19.00 |
| LegalZoom.com | $727.48 million | 2.46 | $29.96 million | $0.12 | 84.13 |
Profitability
This table compares Ashtead Group and LegalZoom.com’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ashtead Group | 13.68% | 20.89% | 7.26% |
| LegalZoom.com | 3.05% | 9.91% | 3.35% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ashtead Group and LegalZoom.com, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ashtead Group | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 |
| LegalZoom.com | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2.22 |
LegalZoom.com has a consensus price target of $11.17, suggesting a potential upside of 10.62%. Given LegalZoom.com’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LegalZoom.com is more favorable than Ashtead Group.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
0.8% of Ashtead Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of LegalZoom.com shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of LegalZoom.com shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LegalZoom.com has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $5.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. LegalZoom.com pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.3%. Ashtead Group pays out 41.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LegalZoom.com pays out 1,200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Summary
Ashtead Group beats LegalZoom.com on 9 of the 16 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 LegalZoom.com
LegalZoom.com, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company’s platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations. It also provides consumer, estate planning, and other services comprising last will and testament, living will, living trust, power of attorney, and name change. In addition, the company offers subscriptions services, including registered agent, compliance, attorney advice, tax advice and preparation, eSignature, virtual mail and check deposit services, trademark monitoring, and estate planning bundle. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Receive News & Ratings for Ashtead Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ashtead Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
