Head-To-Head Comparison: General Enterprise Ventures (OTCMKTS:GEVI) and Ashland (NYSE:ASH)

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) and General Enterprise Ventures (OTCMKTS:GEVI) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Ashland and General Enterprise Ventures’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ashland	7.95%	7.43%	3.85%
General Enterprise Ventures	-544.66%	-162.24%	-104.56%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ashland shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ashland shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ashland and General Enterprise Ventures”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ashland	$2.11 billion	1.60	$169.00 million	$3.35	21.36
General Enterprise Ventures	$520,000.00	54.50	-$10.10 million	($0.08)	-9.63

Ashland has higher revenue and earnings than General Enterprise Ventures. General Enterprise Ventures is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ashland, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ashland and General Enterprise Ventures, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ashland	0	2	5	0	2.71
General Enterprise Ventures	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ashland currently has a consensus price target of $102.00, suggesting a potential upside of 42.52%. Given Ashland’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Ashland is more favorable than General Enterprise Ventures.

Volatility & Risk

Ashland has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Enterprise Ventures has a beta of 5.17, indicating that its share price is 417% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ashland beats General Enterprise Ventures on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions. Its Personal Care segment provides a range of nature-based, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. Its Intermediates segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ashland Inc. in August 2022. Ashland Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

About General Enterprise Ventures

General Enterprise Ventures, Inc., engages in installing large home and facility proactive wildfire prevention systems. It offers CitroTech products for the prevention and spread of wildfires, as well as lumber treatments for fire prevention. The company was formerly known as General Entertainment Ventures, Inc. and changed its name to General Enterprise Ventures, Inc. in October 2021. General Enterprise Ventures, Inc. is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming.