North American Construction Group (NOA) Competitors

North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) and Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment and risk.

Is NOA or LBRT more profitable?

Liberty Energy has a net margin of 6.03% compared to North American Construction Group's net margin of 3.24%. North American Construction Group's return on equity of 23.70% beat Liberty Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
North American Construction Group	3.24%	23.70%	5.64%
Liberty Energy	6.03%	10.30%	6.15%

Does the media prefer NOA or LBRT?

In the previous week, Liberty Energy had 24 more articles in the media than North American Construction Group. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Liberty Energy and 1 mentions for North American Construction Group. North American Construction Group's average media sentiment score of 1.77 beat Liberty Energy's score of 0.17 indicating that North American Construction Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
North American Construction Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Liberty Energy	7 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate NOA or LBRT?

Liberty Energy has a consensus target price of $17.23, suggesting a potential upside of 40.80%. Given Liberty Energy's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Liberty Energy is more favorable than North American Construction Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
North American Construction Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Liberty Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is NOA or LBRT a better dividend stock?

North American Construction Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Liberty Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. North American Construction Group pays out 34.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Liberty Energy pays out 21.2% 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. North American Construction Group has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Liberty Energy has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Liberty Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, NOA or LBRT?

North American Construction Group has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Energy has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NOA or LBRT?

Liberty Energy has higher revenue and earnings than North American Construction Group. Liberty Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than North American Construction Group, 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
North American Construction Group	$850.88M	0.59	$32.17M	$1.01	16.39
Liberty Energy	$4.32B	0.46	$316.01M	$1.51	8.10

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NOA or LBRT?

75.0% of North American Construction Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Liberty Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 9.7% of North American Construction Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Liberty Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Liberty Energy beats North American Construction Group on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.