Kier Group (KIE) Competitors

Kier Group (LON:KIE) and Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment and earnings.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of KIE or BBY?

29.8% of Kier Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.9% of Balfour Beatty shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Kier Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Balfour Beatty shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is KIE or BBY a better dividend stock?

Kier Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Balfour Beatty pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Kier Group pays out 54.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Balfour Beatty pays out 35.4% 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.

Is KIE or BBY more profitable?

Balfour Beatty has a net margin of 2.85% compared to Kier Group's net margin of 1.09%. Balfour Beatty's return on equity of 19.46% beat Kier Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kier Group	1.09%	8.23%	2.18%
Balfour Beatty	2.85%	19.46%	1.63%

Which has more volatility and risk, KIE or BBY?

Kier Group has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Balfour Beatty has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor KIE or BBY?

In the previous week, Kier Group and Kier Group both had 4 articles in the media. Balfour Beatty's average media sentiment score of 0.60 beat Kier Group's score of 0.57 indicating that Balfour Beatty is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kier Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Balfour Beatty	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, KIE or BBY?

Balfour Beatty has higher revenue and earnings than Kier Group. Balfour Beatty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kier 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
Kier Group	£4.02B	0.21	£42.84M	£0.10	2,000.00
Balfour Beatty	£8.87B	0.34	£219.98M	£0.35	1,756.37

Do analysts recommend KIE or BBY?

Kier Group currently has a consensus price target of GBX 225, indicating a potential upside of 18.42%. Balfour Beatty has a consensus price target of GBX 680, indicating a potential upside of 9.68%. Given Kier Group's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Kier Group is more favorable than Balfour Beatty.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kier Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Balfour Beatty	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Balfour Beatty beats Kier Group on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.