Jacobs Solutions (J) Competitors

AECOM (NYSE:ACM) and Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) are related large-cap companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Is ACM or J more profitable?

Jacobs Solutions has a net margin of 4.16% compared to AECOM's net margin of 3.82%. AECOM's return on equity of 27.87% beat Jacobs Solutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AECOM	3.82%	27.87%	5.78%
Jacobs Solutions	4.16%	17.13%	6.15%

Which has more volatility & risk, ACM or J?

AECOM has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jacobs Solutions has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ACM or J a better dividend stock?

AECOM pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Jacobs Solutions pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. AECOM pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Jacobs Solutions pays out 31.9% 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. AECOM has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Jacobs Solutions has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Jacobs Solutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer ACM or J?

AECOM currently has a consensus price target of $128.44, indicating a potential upside of 0.05%. Jacobs Solutions has a consensus price target of $155.25, indicating a potential upside of 4.99%. Given Jacobs Solutions' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Jacobs Solutions is more favorable than AECOM.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AECOM	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Jacobs Solutions	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has better valuation and earnings, ACM or J?

Jacobs Solutions has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AECOM. AECOM is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jacobs Solutions, 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
AECOM	$16.11B	1.06	$402.27M	$4.59	27.97
Jacobs Solutions	$11.50B	1.54	$821.09M	$4.01	36.87

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in ACM or J?

85.4% of AECOM shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.7% of Jacobs Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of AECOM shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Jacobs Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer ACM or J?

In the previous week, AECOM had 1 more articles in the media than Jacobs Solutions. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for AECOM and 14 mentions for Jacobs Solutions. Jacobs Solutions' average media sentiment score of 1.57 beat AECOM's score of 1.12 indicating that Jacobs Solutions is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AECOM	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Jacobs Solutions	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Jacobs Solutions beats AECOM on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.