Babcock International Group (BAB) Competitors

Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) and Babcock International Group (LON:BAB) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do analysts rate BBY or BAB?

Balfour Beatty currently has a consensus target price of GBX 542.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.96%. Babcock International Group has a consensus target price of GBX 823.33, suggesting a potential downside of 8.01%. Given Balfour Beatty's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Balfour Beatty is more favorable than Babcock International Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Balfour Beatty	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Babcock International Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk and volatility, BBY or BAB?

Balfour Beatty has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Babcock International Group has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BBY or BAB more profitable?

Babcock International Group has a net margin of 3.77% compared to Balfour Beatty's net margin of 2.85%. Babcock International Group's return on equity of 44.68% beat Balfour Beatty's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Balfour Beatty	2.85%	19.46%	1.63%
Babcock International Group	3.77%	44.68%	4.47%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BBY or BAB?

Babcock International Group received 192 more outperform votes than Balfour Beatty when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 76.09% of users gave Babcock International Group an outperform vote while only 65.52% of users gave Balfour Beatty an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Balfour Beatty	Outperform Votes 648 65.52%	Underperform Votes 341 34.48%
Babcock International Group	Outperform Votes 840 76.09%	Underperform Votes 264 23.91%

Which has better earnings and valuation, BBY or BAB?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Balfour Beatty	£7.72B	0.33	£219.98M	£42.83	11.73
Babcock International Group	£4.37B	1.03	£165.10M	£33.05	27.08

Does the media prefer BBY or BAB?

In the previous week, Babcock International Group had 4 more articles in the media than Balfour Beatty. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Babcock International Group and 0 mentions for Balfour Beatty. Balfour Beatty's average media sentiment score of 0.61 beat Babcock International Group's score of 0.23 indicating that Balfour Beatty is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Balfour Beatty	Positive
Babcock International Group	Neutral

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BBY or BAB?

61.7% of Balfour Beatty shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of Babcock International Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Balfour Beatty shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Babcock International Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BBY or BAB a better dividend stock?

Balfour Beatty pays an annual dividend of GBX 12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Babcock International Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 5 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Balfour Beatty pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Babcock International Group pays out 15.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Summary

Babcock International Group beats Balfour Beatty on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.