Comparing Argan (NYSE:AGX) and Everus Construction Group (NYSE:ECG)

Argan (NYSE:AGX) and Everus Construction Group (NYSE:ECG) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Argan and Everus Construction Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Argan	$944.61 million	8.32	$85.46 million	$8.49	66.77
Everus Construction Group	$3.75 billion	1.60	$201.77 million	$3.94	29.74

Everus Construction Group has higher revenue and earnings than Argan. Everus Construction Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Argan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Argan and Everus Construction Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Argan	0	5	4	0	2.44
Everus Construction Group	0	4	2	1	2.57

Argan currently has a consensus target price of $425.40, suggesting a potential downside of 24.96%. Everus Construction Group has a consensus target price of $102.75, suggesting a potential downside of 12.30%. Given Everus Construction Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Everus Construction Group is more favorable than Argan.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Argan	14.59%	35.12%	15.16%
Everus Construction Group	5.39%	37.06%	13.04%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.4% of Argan shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of Argan shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Everus Construction Group 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.

Risk and Volatility

Argan has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Everus Construction Group has a beta of 3.27, meaning that its share price is 227% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Argan beats Everus Construction Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Argan

Argan, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity. This segment serves independent power project owners, public utilities, power plant equipment suppliers, and other commercial firms. The Industrial Services segment provides industrial construction and field services and vessel fabrication services for fertilizer, engineering and construction, forest products, and various other industrial companies in southeast region of the United States. The Telecom Services segment offers trenchless directional boring and excavation for underground communication and power networks, as well as aerial cabling services; and installs buried cable, high and low voltage electric lines, and private area outdoor lighting systems. It also provides structured cabling, terminations, and connectivity that offers the physical transport for high-speed data, voice, video, and security networks. This segment serves electricity cooperative, state and local government agencies, counties and municipalities, and technology-oriented government contracting firms, as well as federal government facilities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Argan, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About Everus Construction Group

Everus Construction Group is providing a full spectrum of construction services through its electrical and mechanical and transmission and distribution specialty contracting services principally in United States. Its specialty contracting services are provided to utility, transportation, commercial, industrial, institutional, renewable and other customers. Everus Construction Group is based in BISMARCK, N.D.