Contrasting Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) & IES (NASDAQ:IESC)

IES (NASDAQ:IESC) and Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares IES and Granite Construction”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IES	$3.37 billion	3.78	$303.06 million	$11.26	28.40
Granite Construction	$4.42 billion	1.12	$193.00 million	($4.31)	-26.17

IES has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Granite Construction. Granite Construction is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IES, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.6% of IES shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.4% of IES shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Granite Construction shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares IES and Granite Construction’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IES	11.40%	35.70%	19.68%
Granite Construction	-3.32%	27.83%	7.17%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for IES and Granite Construction, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IES	0	1	2	0	2.67
Granite Construction	2	1	2	1	2.33

IES presently has a consensus price target of $277.25, suggesting a potential downside of 13.29%. Granite Construction has a consensus price target of $158.50, suggesting a potential upside of 40.52%. Given Granite Construction’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Granite Construction is more favorable than IES.

Risk & Volatility

IES has a beta of 1.78, suggesting that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Granite Construction has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

IES beats Granite Construction on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IES

IES Holdings, Inc. engages in the design and installation of integrated electrical and technology systems, and provides infrastructure products and services in the United States. The Communications segment designs, installs, and maintains network infrastructure within data centers for co-location and managed hosting customers; corporate, educational, financial, hospitality, and healthcare buildings; e-commerce distribution centers; and high-tech manufacturing facilities. This segment also provides design and installation services for audio/visual, telephone, fire, and wireless access and intrusion alarm systems; and engages in designing/building, servicing, and maintaining data network systems. The Residential segment offers electrical installations to single-family housing and multi-family apartments; and cable television installations to residential and light commercial applications, as well as installs residential solar power for new construction and existing residences. The Infrastructure Solutions segment maintains and repairs alternating and direct current electric motors and generators, and power generating and distribution equipment; manufactures custom-engineered metal enclosed bus duct solutions used in power distribution; manufactures custom commercial and industrial generator enclosures; manufactures, re-manufactures, and repairs industrial lifting magnets; and maintains and repairs railroad main and auxiliary generators, main alternators, and traction motors. The Commercial & Industrial segment offers electrical and mechanical design, construction, and maintenance services for office buildings, manufacturing facilities, data centers, chemical plants, refineries, wind farms, solar facilities, municipal infrastructures, and health care facilities. The company was formerly known as Integrated Electrical Services, Inc. and changed its name to IES Holdings, Inc. in May 2016. IES Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects. The Materials segment is involved in the production of aggregates, asphalt concrete, liquid asphalt, and recycled materials production for internal use in our construction projects and sale to third parties. It also offers site preparation, mining, and infrastructure services for residential development, energy development, commercial and industrial sites, railways, residential development, and energy development; and provides construction management professional services. It serves federal agencies, state departments of transportation, local transit authorities, county and city public works departments, school districts and developers, utilities, contractors, landscapers, manufacturers of products requiring aggregate materials, retailers, homeowners, farmers, brokers, and private owners of industrial, commercial, and residential sites. Granite Construction Incorporated was incorporated in 1922 and is headquartered in Watsonville, California.