Financial Contrast: Dycom Industries (NYSE:DY) and Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL)

Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) and Dycom Industries (NYSE:DY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.9% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Dycom Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Dycom Industries shares are held by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Sterling Infrastructure and Dycom Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sterling Infrastructure	0	2	6	0	2.75
Dycom Industries	0	3	10	0	2.77

Sterling Infrastructure currently has a consensus price target of $729.83, indicating a potential upside of 157.29%. Dycom Industries has a consensus price target of $502.92, indicating a potential upside of 137.37%. Given Sterling Infrastructure’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Sterling Infrastructure is more favorable than Dycom Industries.

Volatility and Risk

Sterling Infrastructure has a beta of 1.97, meaning that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dycom Industries has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sterling Infrastructure and Dycom Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sterling Infrastructure	12.85%	45.97%	19.94%
Dycom Industries	4.79%	25.30%	8.39%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sterling Infrastructure and Dycom Industries”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sterling Infrastructure	$2.49 billion	3.47	$290.15 million	$17.82	15.92
Dycom Industries	$5.55 billion	1.15	$281.19 million	$10.99	19.28

Sterling Infrastructure has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Dycom Industries. Sterling Infrastructure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dycom Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Sterling Infrastructure beats Dycom Industries on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sterling Infrastructure

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. engages in the provision of e-infrastructure, transportation, and building solutions primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: E-Infrastructure Solutions, Transportation Solutions, and Building Solutions. The E-Infrastructure Solutions segment provides site development services for the blue-chip end users in the e-commerce distribution center, data center, manufacturing, warehousing, and power generation sectors. The Transportation Solutions segment is involved in the development of infrastructure and rehabilitation projects for highways, roads, bridges, airports, ports, rail, and storm drainage systems for the departments of transportation in various states, regional transit authorities, airport authorities, port authorities, water authorities, and railroads. The Building Solutions segment provides residential and commercial concrete foundations for single-family and multi-family homes, parking structures, elevated slabs, other concrete work for developers and general contractors, as well as provides plumbing services for residential builds. The company was formerly known as Sterling Construction Company, Inc. and changed its name to Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. in June 2022. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Dycom Industries

Dycom Industries, Inc. provides specialty contracting services to the telecommunications infrastructure and utility industries in the United States. The company offers engineering services to telecommunications providers, including the planning and design of aerial, underground, and buried fiber optic, copper, and coaxial cable systems; wireless networks in connection with the deployment of macro cell and new small cell sites; and program and project management and inspection personnel. It also provides construction, maintenance, and installation services for telephone companies and cable multiple system operators, such as placement and splicing of copper, fiber, and coaxial cables; tower construction, lines and antenna installation, foundation and equipment pad construction, and small cell site placement for wireless carriers, as well as equipment installation and material fabrication, and site testing services; underground facility locating services comprising locating telephone, cable television, power, water, sewer, and gas lines; installation and maintenance of customer premise equipment, including digital video recorders, set top boxes, and modems for cable system operators; and construction and maintenance services for electric and gas utilities, and other customers. Dycom Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.