Head-To-Head Survey: Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) & Stantec (NYSE:STN)

Construction Partners (NASDAQ:ROAD) and Stantec (NYSE:STN) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Construction Partners has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stantec has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Construction Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of Stantec shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.7% of Construction Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Stantec shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Construction Partners	$2.81 billion	2.40	$101.78 million	$2.55	46.81
Stantec	$5.83 billion	1.39	$343.11 million	$3.12	23.06

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Construction Partners and Stantec, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Construction Partners	0	3	4	1	2.75
Stantec	0	2	5	0	2.71

Construction Partners currently has a consensus target price of $133.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.85%. Stantec has a consensus target price of $175.00, indicating a potential upside of 143.22%. Given Stantec’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Stantec is more favorable than Construction Partners.

Profitability

This table compares Construction Partners and Stantec’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Construction Partners	4.10%	16.06%	4.59%
Stantec	5.92%	19.37%	8.03%

Summary

Stantec beats Construction Partners on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Construction Partners

Construction Partners, Inc., a civil infrastructure company, constructs and maintains roadways in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The company provides various products and services to public and private infrastructure projects, such as highways, roads, bridges, airports, and commercial and residential developments. It also engages in manufacturing and distributing hot mix asphalt (HMA) for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with construction projects; and paving activities, including the construction of roadway base layers and application of asphalt pavement. In addition, the company is involved in site development, including the installation of utility and drainage systems; mining aggregates, such as sand, gravel, and construction stones that are used as raw materials in the production of HMA; and distributing liquid asphalt cement for internal use and sales to third parties in connection with HMA production. The company was formerly known as SunTx CPI Growth Company, Inc. and changed its name to Construction Partners, Inc. in September 2017. Construction Partners, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Dothan, Alabama.

About Stantec

Stantec Inc. provides professional services in the areas of infrastructure and facilities to the public and private sectors in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It offers evaluation, planning, and designing infrastructure solutions; solutions for sustainable water resources, planning, management, and infrastructure; environmental services; integrated architecture, engineering, interior design, and planning solutions for buildings; and energy and resources solutions. The company also provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. In addition, it offers planning and design services to clients in residential, logistics, retail, infrastructure, energy, higher education, and urban regeneration sectors; architectural and interior design, and planning services in the science and technology, commercial workplace, higher education, residential, and hospitality markets. Further, the company provides transportation advisory, transport engineering, and technical design; project delivery consultancy services for mining, resources, and industrial infrastructure projects; paleontological and archaeological services for the rail, transportation, water, and power and energy sectors; and environmental and cultural resource compliance services. Additionally, it offers consulting services in sustainable building design, energy infrastructure upgrades, sustainable district heating network, and e-mobility; and planning, design, construction administration, commissioning, maintenance, decommissioning, and remediation services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.