Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) & ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) Head to Head Survey

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.99, indicating that its stock price is 99% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.3% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of ARQ shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and ARQ”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	$1.70 billion	4.76	$198.00 million	$1.24	39.00
ARQ	$120.34 million	0.96	-$52.61 million	($1.29)	-2.08

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has higher revenue and earnings than ARQ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	12.26%	17.40%	10.35%
ARQ	-43.93%	-2.67%	-2.00%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and ARQ, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	0	4	4	0	2.50
ARQ	1	1	2	1	2.60

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor presently has a consensus price target of $54.88, suggesting a potential upside of 13.48%. ARQ has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 179.85%. Given ARQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARQ is more favorable than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor.

Summary

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor beats ARQ on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names. The company also provides flow systems products comprising point drains, hydrants, fixture carrier systems, chemical drainage systems; and interceptors and separators, acid neutralization systems, and remote monitoring systems under the Zurn and Green Turtle brands. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and markets remote tank monitoring devices, alarms, software, and services. Further, the company offers sensor-operated flush valves under the AquaSense, Aquaflush, and AquaVantage brands; heavy-duty commercial faucets under the AquaSpec brand; water conserving fixtures under the EcoVantage and Zurn One brands; stainless steel products under the Just Manufacturing brand name, which include stainless steel sinks and plumbing fixtures, and various types of sinks, as well as drinking water dispensing and filtration products under the Elkay and Halsey Taylor brands. It distributes to institutional, commercial, waterworks, and residential end markets through independent sales representatives, plumbing wholesalers, and industry-specific distributors in the waterworks, foodservice, industrial, janitorial, sanitation, and sitework industries. The company was formerly known as Zurn Water Solutions Corporation and changed its name to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation in July 2022. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.