Argan (AGX) Competitors

Argan (NYSE:AGX) and KBR (NYSE:KBR) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, community ranking, dividends and institutional ownership.

Is AGX or KBR more profitable?

Argan has a net margin of 8.20% compared to KBR's net margin of 4.35%. KBR's return on equity of 28.87% beat Argan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Argan	8.20%	21.66%	9.73%
KBR	4.35%	28.87%	6.98%

Which has more risk & volatility, AGX or KBR?

Argan has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KBR has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, AGX or KBR?

Argan has higher earnings, but lower revenue than KBR. KBR is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Argan, 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
Argan	$874.18M	2.55	$32.36M	$6.11	26.80
KBR	$7.74B	0.87	-$265M	$2.80	18.61

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AGX or KBR?

KBR received 248 more outperform votes than Argan when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 69.06% of users gave Argan an outperform vote while only 67.02% of users gave KBR an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Argan	Outperform Votes 317 69.06%	Underperform Votes 142 30.94%
KBR	Outperform Votes 565 67.02%	Underperform Votes 278 32.98%

Is AGX or KBR a better dividend stock?

Argan pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. KBR pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Argan pays out 24.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KBR pays out 23.6% 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. Argan has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. KBR is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer AGX or KBR?

Argan presently has a consensus price target of $150.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.40%. KBR has a consensus price target of $70.25, indicating a potential upside of 34.81%. Given KBR's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe KBR is more favorable than Argan.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Argan	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
KBR	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Does the media prefer AGX or KBR?

In the previous week, KBR had 16 more articles in the media than Argan. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for KBR and 12 mentions for Argan. Argan's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat KBR's score of 0.95 indicating that Argan is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Argan	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
KBR	18 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AGX or KBR?

79.4% of Argan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of KBR shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Argan shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of KBR shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

KBR beats Argan on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.