Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC) Competitors

Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE:JEC) and Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Do analysts rate JEC or PWR?

Quanta Services has a consensus price target of $379.32, indicating a potential downside of 4.01%. Given Quanta Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Quanta Services is more favorable than Jacobs Engineering Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jacobs Engineering Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Quanta Services	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has more volatility and risk, JEC or PWR?

Jacobs Engineering Group has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quanta Services has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is JEC or PWR more profitable?

Jacobs Engineering Group has a net margin of 6.66% compared to Quanta Services' net margin of 3.73%. Quanta Services' return on equity of 18.41% beat Jacobs Engineering Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jacobs Engineering Group	6.66%	11.42%	5.42%
Quanta Services	3.73%	18.41%	7.15%

Does the media prefer JEC or PWR?

In the previous week, Quanta Services had 64 more articles in the media than Jacobs Engineering Group. MarketBeat recorded 64 mentions for Quanta Services and 0 mentions for Jacobs Engineering Group. Quanta Services' average media sentiment score of 1.05 beat Jacobs Engineering Group's score of 0.00 indicating that Quanta Services is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Jacobs Engineering Group	Neutral
Quanta Services	Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, JEC or PWR?

Quanta Services has higher revenue and earnings than Jacobs Engineering Group. Jacobs Engineering Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quanta Services, 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
Jacobs Engineering Group	$12.74B	1.45	$847.98M	$5.05	27.54
Quanta Services	$24.87B	2.36	$904.82M	$6.46	61.17

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of JEC or PWR?

90.6% of Jacobs Engineering Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.5% of Quanta Services shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Jacobs Engineering Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Quanta Services 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.

Is JEC or PWR a better dividend stock?

Jacobs Engineering Group pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Quanta Services pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Jacobs Engineering Group pays out 13.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Quanta Services pays out 6.2% 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. Quanta Services has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Summary

Quanta Services beats Jacobs Engineering Group on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.