Babcock (BW) vs. Its Rivals Head-To-Head Review

Babcock (NYSE:BW) is one of 219 publicly-traded companies in the “Electrical Equipment” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Babcock to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Babcock and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Babcock	$587.70 million	-$36.16 million	-11.63
Babcock Competitors	$2.35 billion	$133.21 million	28.42

Babcock’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Babcock. Babcock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Babcock and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Babcock	-13.63%	N/A	-1.41%
Babcock Competitors	-205.63%	-198.28%	-8.73%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.2% of Babcock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.1% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Babcock shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are held 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.

Volatility and Risk

Babcock has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Babcock’s competitors have a beta of -19.64, suggesting that their average stock price is 2,064% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Babcock and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Babcock	1	2	3	0	2.33
Babcock Competitors	2182	5195	7217	415	2.39

Babcock presently has a consensus target price of $14.25, suggesting a potential upside of 39.21%. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 20.55%. Given Babcock’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Babcock is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Babcock beats its competitors on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Babcock Company Profile

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. engages in the provision of fossil and renewable power generation and environmental equipment. It operates through the following segments: B&W Renewable, B&W Environmental, and B&W Thermal. The B&W Renewable segment supports a circular economy, diverting waste from landfills to use for power generation and replacing fossil fuels, while recovering metals and reducing emissions. The B&W Environmental segment focuses on systems for cooling, ash handling, particulate control, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides removal, chemical looping for carbon control, and mercury control. The B&W Thermal segment offers steam generation equipment, aftermarket parts, construction, maintenance, and field services for plants in the power generation, oil and gas, and industrial sectors. The company was founded by George H. Babcock, Stephen Wilcox, Jr., and Joseph P. Manton in 1856 and is headquartered in Akron, OH.