Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) versus Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) Financial Survey

Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) and Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Gibraltar Industries and Aspen Aerogels, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gibraltar Industries	0	2	0	0	2.00
Aspen Aerogels	2	2	4	1	2.44

Aspen Aerogels has a consensus price target of $12.67, indicating a potential upside of 229.43%. Given Aspen Aerogels’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aspen Aerogels is more favorable than Gibraltar Industries.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Gibraltar Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of Aspen Aerogels shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gibraltar Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Aspen Aerogels shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gibraltar Industries and Aspen Aerogels”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gibraltar Industries	$1.38 billion	1.31	$137.34 million	$0.08	769.25
Aspen Aerogels	$397.18 million	0.80	$13.38 million	($3.81)	-1.01

Gibraltar Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Aspen Aerogels. Aspen Aerogels 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 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aspen Aerogels has a beta of 2.85, suggesting that its stock price is 185% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Gibraltar Industries and Aspen Aerogels’ 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%
Aspen Aerogels	-78.53%	2.92%	1.85%

Summary

Gibraltar Industries beats Aspen Aerogels on 9 of the 15 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 Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerogel insulation products primarily for use in the energy infrastructure and sustainable insulation materials markets in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Energy Industrial and Thermal Barrier. The company offers PyroThin thermal barriers for use in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage industries; Pyrogel XTE that reduces the risk of corrosion under insulation in energy infrastructure operating systems; and Pyrogel HPS for applications within the power generation market. It also offers Pyrogel XTF to provide protection against fire; Cryogel Z for sub-ambient and cryogenic applications in the energy infrastructure market; Spaceloft Subsea for use in pipe-in-pipe applications in offshore oil production; and Cryogel X201, which is used in designing cold systems, such as refrigerated appliances, cold storage equipment, and aerospace systems. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Northborough, Massachusetts.