Reviewing Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) & Shimizu (OTCMKTS:SHMUY)

Shimizu (OTCMKTS:SHMUY) and Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ:ROCK) are both construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Shimizu has a beta of 0.13, suggesting that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gibraltar Industries has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Shimizu and Gibraltar Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shimizu	0	0	0	0	0.00
Gibraltar Industries	2	0	0	1	2.00

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.4% of Gibraltar Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gibraltar Industries shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Shimizu and Gibraltar Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shimizu	5.18%	4.52%	1.68%
Gibraltar Industries	-3.76%	12.05%	8.28%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Shimizu and Gibraltar Industries”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shimizu	$12.77 billion	1.33	$435.70 million	$4.15	22.00
Gibraltar Industries	$1.14 billion	1.14	-$44.39 million	($1.50)	-29.22

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

Summary

Gibraltar Industries beats Shimizu on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shimizu

Shimizu Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, development, engineering, and life cycle valuation businesses in Japan and internationally. The company proposes, plans, designs, builds, repairs, manages, operates, and maintains offices, plants, schools, hospitals, and other buildings, such as nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, temples, shrines, and architectures; offers design, build, and renovation for tunnels, bridges, dams, urban infrastructure, energy facilities, and other public works; provides construction for manufacturing facilities, high-rise buildings, hospitals, bridges, subways, and other projects; and develops and rents real estate properties, including condominiums, data centers, office buildings, logistics facilities, and other properties. It also offers engineering, procurement, and construction services in solar and wind power projects, environmental clean-up engineering, turn-key order fulfillment of plants, and ICT systems and engineering projects. In addition, the company provides facility operation and management services; infrastructure management, maintenance, and concession services; and generates power using renewable energy and sells electricity, as well as involved in commercialization of smart cities and provision of services using ICT technology. Further, it engages in the lease and sale of construction equipment and materials; provision of interior finishing and rebar works; insurance agency, security, and travel agency services; supply of PCR test kits; and rental of various tower cranes, crawler cranes, and other construction machinery and equipment. Additionally, the company offers construction equipment consulting services, such as construction planning, maintenance, and management services; property and building management services; and real estate consulting and brokerage services, as well as tenant leasing services. Shimizu Corporation was founded in 1804 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Gibraltar Industries

Gibraltar Industries, Inc. manufactures and provides products and services for the renewable energy, residential, agtech, and infrastructure markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Renewables, Residential, Agtech, and Infrastructure. The Renewables segment designs, engineers, manufactures, and installs solar racking and electrical balance of systems for commercial and distributed generation scale solar installations. The Residential segment offers roof and foundation ventilation products and accessories; mail and electronic package solutions, including single mailboxes, cluster style mail and parcel boxes for single and multi-family housing, and electronic package locker systems; roof edgings and flashings; soffits and trims; drywall corner beads; metal roofing and accessories; rain dispersion products comprising gutters and accessories; and exterior retractable awnings. This segment also provides electronic parcel lockers, pipe flashings, and remote-controlled deck awnings and valances for sun protection. The Agtech segment offers growing and processing solutions, including the designing, engineering, manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and support of greenhouses; and indoor growing operations for retail, fruits and vegetables, flowers, cannabis, commercial, institutional and conservatories, and car wash structure applications. The Infrastructure segment offers expansion joints, structural bearings, rubber pre-formed seals and other sealants, elastomeric concrete, and bridge cable protection systems. It serves solar developers, home improvement retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and contractors, as well as institutional and commercial growers of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and plants. Gibraltar Industries, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.