Ambitious Ashtead Looking To Disrupt Equipment Rental Even Further

Ashtead Group (OTCPK:ASHTY) has already accomplished a lot, as its U.S. equipment rental business Sunbelt dramatically outgrew the underlying market over the last decade or so, expanding more than 4x during a turbulent time for the overall market. Management has more in mind, though, as it believes it can eventually hold mid-teens share of a substantially larger market, as more construction companies turn to rental/leasing and as the company adds stores and bulks up in areas outside of core construction equipment rental.

Although Ashtead shares haven't done all that well year-to-date next to rivals like United Rentals (NYSE:URI) or Hertz (NYSE:HTZ), the shares are still up about 70% over the past year, with the shares up about a third since the U.S. Presidential election. Investors have already assumed a lot in regards to infrastructure stimulus and tax reform, and it is hard for me to argue that the shares are significantly undervalued on a cash flow basis. That said, management has shown an uncanny ability to grow the business and federal stimulus could stretch the company's prospects and create more M&A opportunities.

Click here for more:
Ambitious Ashtead Looking To Disrupt Equipment Rental Even Further

Investopedia: Avis Zips Up Zipcar

It didn't take long for investors to see the first deal of 2013, and it's an interesting one. Rental car giant Avis Budget (Nasdaq:CAR) is acquiring Zipcar (Nasdaq:ZIP) in an all-cash deal that will vault Avis into the car sharing market, while ending an emerging growth story that was marked by both significant potential and unrealized expectations.

The Deal to Be
Assuming that the deal goes through, Avis will be acquiring Zipcar in an all-cash deal worth more than $490 million. At $12.25 per share, Zipcar shareholders are getting a roughly 49% premium to last year's close.

Continue reading here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2013/Avis-Zips-Up-Zipcar-CAR-ZIP-HTZ0103.aspx

Investopedia: Keep An Eye On This Titan

No one knows when the next run in agriculture is going to start, or if the last one is truly over yet. After all, some of the high crop prices last year were certainly due to a spate of bad harvests, and favorable weather could deliver a bumper crop this year. Then again, a large amount of the U.S. corn crop is going to ethanol, food demand is ever-growing and natural disasters are a "where" not "if" question. 

When agriculture runs, investors turn to fertilizer stocks like Potash (NYSE:POT), equipment companies like Deere (NYSE:DE), seed companies like Syngenta (NYSE:SYT), and ETFs like PowerShares Agriculture (NYSE:DBA) and MarketVectors Agribusiness (NYSE:MOO).

Perhaps investors should add Titan Machinery (Nasdaq:TITN), the leading dealer of CNH Global's (NYSE:CNH) Case and New Holland agriculture and construction equipment, to their watch lists. Not only is this a viable play on agriculture equipment demand, but it gives investors exposure to a recovery in construction equipment demand (whenever that may happen). 

To read the full piece, please go here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Keep-An-Eye-On-This-Titan-TITN-DE-CNH-CAT-AGCO-DBA-MOO0420.aspx

Can Oshkosh Keep On Truckin'?

Financial instruments are supposed to discount future cash flows; that is, the price of a stock or bond today is supposed to be directly tied to the expected future cash flows tied to the security. If that were not the case, savvy investors would look to buy undervalued assets and sell overvalued assets until the prices were in balance. 

Okay, that is Finance 101, but it is a relevant reminder when approaching heavy-duty vehicle maker Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK). Right now this company is booking excellent profits on its defense business, but the valuation multiples are quite puny. Clearly, the investment community is expecting much less from Oshkosh in the future and the real key here is whether business will fall off as much as people currently expect.

The Quarter that Was 
We will get to the future in a moment, but let us look at the June quarter (the company's fiscal third quarter) first. Revenue spiked upwards this quarter, more than doubling to $2,439 million. This growth was fueled by a near-tripling of revenue from the defense business, while the access business improved and the fire/emergency segment was down by double-digits.

For the rest of the story:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Can-Oshkosh-Keep-On-Truckin-OSK-NAV-FSS-TEX-HTZ0804.aspx