Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) & Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) Critical Comparison

Boise Cascade (NYSE:BCC) and Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Boise Cascade and Alta Equipment Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boise Cascade	$6.40 billion	0.41	$132.84 million	$2.95	25.62
Alta Equipment Group	$1.84 billion	0.10	-$80.30 million	($2.57)	-2.29

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.2% of Boise Cascade shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.6% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Boise Cascade shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of Alta Equipment Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Boise Cascade and Alta Equipment Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boise Cascade	1	3	3	0	2.29
Alta Equipment Group	1	2	1	0	2.00

Boise Cascade presently has a consensus target price of $93.60, suggesting a potential upside of 23.86%. Alta Equipment Group has a consensus target price of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 48.41%. Given Alta Equipment Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alta Equipment Group is more favorable than Boise Cascade.

Volatility & Risk

Boise Cascade has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alta Equipment Group has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Boise Cascade and Alta Equipment Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boise Cascade	1.64%	5.41%	3.34%
Alta Equipment Group	-4.42%	-3,253.61%	-5.92%

Summary

Boise Cascade beats Alta Equipment Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boise Cascade

Boise Cascade Company engages in manufacture of wood products and distribution of building materials in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments, Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution. The Wood Products segment manufactures laminated veneer lumber and laminated beams used in headers and beams; I-joists for residential and commercial flooring and roofing systems, and other structural applications; structural, appearance, and industrial plywood panels; and ponderosa pine shop lumber and appearance grade boards. The Building Materials Distribution segment distributes a line of building materials, including oriented strand boards, plywood, and lumber; general line items, such as siding, composite decking, doors, metal products, insulation, and roofing; and engineered wood products. It markets and sells its products to dealers, home improvement centers, wholesalers, specialty distributors, and industrial converters for use in the construction of new residential housing, repair-and-remodeling of existing housing, construction of light industrial and commercial buildings, and other industrial applications. Boise Cascade Company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

About Alta Equipment Group

Alta Equipment Group Inc. owns and operates integrated equipment dealership platforms in the United States. It operates through three segments: Material Handling, Construction Equipment, and Master Distribution. The company operates a branch network that sells, rents, and provides parts and service support for various categories of specialized equipment, including lift trucks and other material handling equipment, heavy and compact earthmoving equipment, crushing and screening equipment, environmental processing equipment, cranes and aerial work platforms, paving and asphalt equipment, and other construction equipment and related products. It also offers repair and maintenance services for its equipment. In addition, the company designs and builds warehouses; provides automated equipment installation and system integration solutions; and distributes environmental processing equipment. It serves various manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive, municipal/government, education, pharmaceutical and medical, wholesale and retail distribution, construction, agriculture, road building, mining, recycling, and waste management sectors. Alta Equipment Group Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan.