Emerald (NYSE:EEX) & Firemans Contractors (OTCMKTS:FRCN) Critical Analysis

Emerald (NYSE:EEX) and Firemans Contractors (OTCMKTS:FRCN) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

14.9% of Emerald shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Emerald shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Firemans Contractors shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Emerald and Firemans Contractors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emerald	0	0	2	0	3.00
Firemans Contractors	0	0	0	0	0.00

Emerald presently has a consensus target price of $7.90, indicating a potential upside of 60.90%. Given Emerald’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Emerald is more favorable than Firemans Contractors.

Profitability

This table compares Emerald and Firemans Contractors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Emerald	1.57%	1.75%	0.63%
Firemans Contractors	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Emerald and Firemans Contractors”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Emerald	$398.80 million	2.45	$2.20 million	$0.03	163.67
Firemans Contractors	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Emerald has higher revenue and earnings than Firemans Contractors.

Summary

Emerald beats Firemans Contractors on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Emerald

Emerald Holding, Inc. operates business-to-business (B2B) trade shows in the United States. The company provides B2B trade show franchises; and B2B print publications and digital media products, which provide industry specific business news and information across various sectors. It also offers B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions to manufacturers and retailers through Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms. The company serves retail, design, technology, equipment, and safety and security. Emerald Holding, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Firemans Contractors

Firemans Contractors, Inc. provides parking lot maintenance services in the United States. Its services include asphalt maintenance and repair, concrete repair, crack/joint sealing, excavation, line removal, painting, pressure washing, seal coating, signage, speed bumps, parking lot and warehouse striping, and wheel stops. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.