Contrasting Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) & Limbach (NASDAQ:LMB)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.8% of Limbach shares are held by institutional investors. 7.0% of Limbach shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Granite Construction shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Limbach	4.42%	23.22%	11.48%
Granite Construction	-3.32%	27.83%	7.17%

Volatility & Risk

Limbach has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its stock price is 42% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Limbach and Granite Construction, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Limbach	2	1	2	0	2.00
Granite Construction	2	1	2	1	2.33

Limbach presently has a consensus price target of $70.25, suggesting a potential upside of 40.36%. Granite Construction has a consensus price target of $158.50, suggesting a potential upside of 37.66%. Given Limbach’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Limbach is more favorable than Granite Construction.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Limbach and Granite Construction”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Limbach	$646.80 million	0.92	$39.06 million	$2.50	20.02
Granite Construction	$4.97 billion	1.01	$193.00 million	($4.31)	-26.71

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

Summary

Limbach beats Granite Construction on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Limbach

Limbach Holdings, Inc. operates as a building systems solution company in the United States. It operates through two segments, General Contractor Relationships and Owner Direct Relationships. The company engages in the construction and renovation projects that involve primarily include mechanical, plumbing, and electrical services. It also provides critical system repair, MEP infrastructure projects, maintenance contracts, building automation upgrades, data driven insights, and program management services. In addition, it offers captive engineering capabilities, estimating and virtual design; and professional engineering, energy analysis, estimation, and detail design and three-dimensional building installation coordination services. The company serves research, acute care, and inpatient hospitals; public and private colleges, universities, research centers; sports arenas; entertainment facilities, and amusement rides and parks; data centers; automotive, energy and general manufacturing plants; and life sciences, including organizations and companies, whose work is centered around research and development focused on living things. Limbach Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.

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.