Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) and Fluor (NYSE:FLR) are both construction companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
83.5% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.6% of Fluor shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Fluor shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Fluor, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Fluor | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock presently has a consensus target price of $14.35, indicating a potential downside of 6.88%. Fluor has a consensus target price of $16.75, indicating a potential downside of 22.02%. Given Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is more favorable than Fluor.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Fluor's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | $711.52 million | 1.42 | $49.34 million | $0.86 | 17.95 |
| Fluor | $14.35 billion | 0.21 | $-1,522,160,000.00 | $2.99 | 7.24 |
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fluor. Fluor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and Fluor's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | 9.85% | 22.68% | 7.49% |
| Fluor | -3.63% | 10.56% | 1.89% |
Volatility and Risk
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fluor has a beta of 2.85, suggesting that its share price is 185% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock beats Fluor on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
