Reviewing Atos (OTCMKTS:AEXAY) & Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY)

Atos (OTCMKTS:AEXAY) and Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Atos has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashtead Group has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Atos and Ashtead Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atos	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ashtead Group	0	0	0	2	4.00

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Atos and Ashtead Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atos	$11.57 billion	0.01	-$3.72 billion	N/A	N/A
Ashtead Group	$10.86 billion	2.99	$1.60 billion	$14.58	20.39

Ashtead Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Atos.

Dividends

Atos pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 125.0%. Ashtead Group pays an annual dividend of $6.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ashtead Group pays out 47.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atos	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ashtead Group	14.94%	23.60%	7.59%

Summary

Ashtead Group beats Atos on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atos

Atos SE provides digital transformation solutions and services worldwide. It offers advanced computing solutions; analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation solutions; cloud solutions; customer journey analytics and digital customer experience; decarbonization solutions; digital consulting; digital workplace solutions; edge computing and Internet of things solutions; and modern applications and platforms. The company also provides advance detection and response, data protection and governance, digital workplace security, IoT and OT security, trusted digital identities, and cybersecurity solutions; and infrastructure and foundation services. It serves financial services and insurance, healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing, public sector and defense, resources and services, and telecommunication and media industries. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Bezons, France.

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.