Jacobs Solutions (J) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, ACM or J?

AECOM has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jacobs Solutions has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% 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 0.9%. 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 35.3% 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.

Which has preferable valuation & 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	0.93	$402.27M	$4.59	24.69
Jacobs Solutions	$11.50B	1.45	$821.09M	$3.63	38.20

Do analysts prefer ACM or J?

AECOM currently has a consensus price target of $123.71, suggesting a potential upside of 9.14%. Jacobs Solutions has a consensus price target of $151.38, suggesting a potential upside of 9.16%. Given Jacobs Solutions' higher probable upside, analysts clearly 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)	7 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

Does the media prefer ACM or J?

In the previous week, AECOM had 1 more articles in the media than Jacobs Solutions. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for AECOM and 18 mentions for Jacobs Solutions. Jacobs Solutions' average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat AECOM's score of 0.71 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	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Jacobs Solutions	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ACM or J more profitable?

AECOM has a net margin of 3.85% compared to Jacobs Solutions' net margin of 3.53%. AECOM's return on equity of 27.67% beat Jacobs Solutions' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AECOM	3.85%	27.67%	5.65%
Jacobs Solutions	3.53%	15.67%	6.11%

Summary

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