Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) versus Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Financial Comparison

Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) and Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gibraltar Industries and Quanex Building Products”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gibraltar Industries	$1.31 billion	1.51	$137.34 million	$4.17	16.09
Quanex Building Products	$1.28 billion	0.53	$33.06 million	($6.22)	-2.36

Gibraltar Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Quanex Building Products. Quanex Building Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gibraltar Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Gibraltar Industries has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quanex Building Products has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Gibraltar Industries and Quanex Building Products’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gibraltar Industries	10.08%	12.91%	9.18%
Quanex Building Products	-15.45%	10.48%	4.40%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Gibraltar Industries and Quanex Building Products, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gibraltar Industries	1	1	0	0	1.50
Quanex Building Products	2	0	0	0	1.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Gibraltar Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of Quanex Building Products shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gibraltar Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Quanex Building Products shares are owned by insiders. 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.

Summary

Gibraltar Industries beats Quanex Building Products on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gibraltar Industries

Gibraltar Industries, Inc. manufactures and provides products and services for the renewable energy, residential, agtech, and infrastructure markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Renewables, Residential, Agtech, and Infrastructure. The Renewables segment designs, engineers, manufactures, and installs solar racking and electrical balance of systems for commercial and distributed generation scale solar installations. The Residential segment offers roof and foundation ventilation products and accessories; mail and electronic package solutions, including single mailboxes, cluster style mail and parcel boxes for single and multi-family housing, and electronic package locker systems; roof edgings and flashings; soffits and trims; drywall corner beads; metal roofing and accessories; rain dispersion products comprising gutters and accessories; and exterior retractable awnings. This segment also provides electronic parcel lockers, pipe flashings, and remote-controlled deck awnings and valances for sun protection. The Agtech segment offers growing and processing solutions, including the designing, engineering, manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and support of greenhouses; and indoor growing operations for retail, fruits and vegetables, flowers, cannabis, commercial, institutional and conservatories, and car wash structure applications. The Infrastructure segment offers expansion joints, structural bearings, rubber pre-formed seals and other sealants, elastomeric concrete, and bridge cable protection systems. It serves solar developers, home improvement retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and contractors, as well as institutional and commercial growers of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and plants. Gibraltar Industries, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

About Quanex Building Products

Quanex Building Products Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides components for the fenestration industry in the United States, rest of Europe, Canada, Asia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North American Fenestration, European Fenestration, and North American Cabinet Components. It offers flexible insulating glass spacers, extruded vinyl profiles, window and door screens, and precision-formed metal and wood products, as well as cabinet doors and other components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the kitchen and bathroom cabinet industry. In addition, the company provides various non-fenestration components and products, including solar panel sealants, trim moldings, vinyl decking, fencing, water retention barriers, and conservatory roof components. It sells its products to OEMs in the building products industry through sales representatives, direct sales force, distributors, and independent sales agents. Quanex Building Products Corporation was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.