Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) and Sterling Construction (NASDAQ:STRL) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Quanta Services and Sterling Construction's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Quanta Services | $12.11 billion | 1.09 | $402.04 million | $3.05 | 31.38 |
Sterling Construction | $1.13 billion | 0.53 | $39.90 million | $0.90 | 23.14 |
Quanta Services has higher revenue and earnings than Sterling Construction. Sterling Construction is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quanta Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Quanta Services and Sterling Construction, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Quanta Services | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2.70 |
Sterling Construction | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Quanta Services currently has a consensus price target of $73.70, suggesting a potential downside of 22.99%. Given Quanta Services' higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Quanta Services is more favorable than Sterling Construction.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
86.5% of Quanta Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.8% of Sterling Construction shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Quanta Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Sterling Construction shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
Quanta Services has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sterling Construction has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Quanta Services and Sterling Construction's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Quanta Services | 3.45% | 11.61% | 5.61% |
Sterling Construction | 4.12% | 18.54% | 4.38% |
Summary
Quanta Services beats Sterling Construction on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.