Grafton Group (OTCMKTS:GROUF) & Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) Head to Head Analysis

Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) and Grafton Group (OTCMKTS:GROUF) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Construction Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.2% of Grafton Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.4% of Construction Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Construction Partners and Grafton Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Construction Partners	0	1	1	2	3.25
Grafton Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Construction Partners currently has a consensus price target of $112.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 4.43%. Given Construction Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Construction Partners is more favorable than Grafton Group.

Risk & Volatility

Construction Partners has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Grafton Group has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Construction Partners and Grafton Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Construction Partners	$1.82 billion	3.31	$68.93 million	$1.37	78.52
Grafton Group	$2.92 billion	0.74	$155.92 million	N/A	N/A

Grafton Group has higher revenue and earnings than Construction Partners.

Profitability

This table compares Construction Partners and Grafton Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Construction Partners	3.04%	12.24%	3.81%
Grafton Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Construction Partners beats Grafton Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Construction Partners

Construction Partners, Inc., a civil infrastructure company, constructs and maintains roadways in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company provides various products and services to public and private infrastructure projects, such as highways, roads, bridges, airports, and commercial and residential developments. It also engages in manufacturing and distributing hot mix asphalt (HMA) for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with construction projects; and paving activities, including the construction of roadway base layers and application of asphalt pavement. In addition, the company is involved in site development, including the installation of utility and drainage systems; mining aggregates, such as sand, gravel, and construction stones that are used as raw materials in the production of HMA; and distributing liquid asphalt cement for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with HMA production. The company was formerly known as SunTx CPI Growth Company, Inc. and changed its name to Construction Partners, Inc. in September 2017. Construction Partners, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Dothan, Alabama.

About Grafton Group

Grafton Group plc engages in the distribution, retailing, and manufacturing businesses in Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom. Its Distribution segment distributes building materials, paint, tools, ironmongery, fixings, and accessories, workwear and PPE, and spare parts; materials and plant for mechanical services, heating, plumbing, and air movement; and trade, DIY, and self-build markets with building materials, timber, doors and floors, plumbing and heating, bathrooms, and landscaping products under the Selco, Leyland SDM, Chadwicks, MacBlair, Isero, Polvo, Gunters en Meuser, TG Lynes, and IKH brands. The company’s Retailing segment retails home and garden products through stores, including DIY products, paints, lighting products, homestyle products, housewares, bathroom products, and kitchens, as well as gardening and Christmas products under the Woodie’s brand. Its Manufacturing segment manufactures dry mortars and wooden staircases; and drainage, ducting and roofline systems under the CPI Mortar, StairBox, and MFP brand names. Grafton Group plc was founded in 1902 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.